


Bloody Red Eyes

by KaedeRavensdale



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Awkward Eren Yeager, Cannibalism, College Student Levi, Hanji is the mask maker, Highschool student Eren, Kagune, Levi ends up cat sitting at one point, Levi hates humans but Eren starts to change his mind, Levi is a Ghoul, Levi's Ghoul Alias is Heichou, M/M, Masks, Mikasa is in the CCG, Tokyo Ghoul AU, blood/gore, impending war, mentions of Kakuja, minor pining at first
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-08
Updated: 2015-08-08
Packaged: 2018-04-03 09:52:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 9
Words: 26,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4096486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaedeRavensdale/pseuds/KaedeRavensdale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren, raised by his older sister Mikasa after their parents were killed by Ghouls, has been too busy day dreaming about his surely hopeless crush-Levi, a college senior of 23-to really care all that much for the sudden increase in Ghoul activity, or for the fact that the recent murder spree perpetrated by the abnormal Ghoul known only as Heichou has been keeping his sister far too busy to watch him as closely as she usually would. Levi, known by the alias of Heichou, has made it his mission to eliminate the CCG and the 'inferior' Humans ever since the death of his two closest friends who he regarded as family. Originally he targeted Eren as a tool towards reaching that end, but finds himself falling in love instead. Will the similarities between Humans and Ghouls unearthed by this bond be enough to save them, or will both species be destroyed by a rapidly impending war?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Heichou

**Author's Note:**

> Unbetaed as always; i apologize for any grammatical errors that may be present. As usual, comments make the world go round and help to influence the speed of updates.

 

                _A thunderstorm like this one hasn’t been seen around here in my living memory; it’s almost a typhoon! Rain like this should have utterly obliterated the senses of even the strongest Ghouls, and he hasn’t even slowed down; this thing is something else!_ Rounding a sharp corner her feet nearly skidded out from beneath her; regaining her balance quickly after stumbling into a wall she took off again after the darting figure as it flitted across the power lines over head sending blueish arcs of electricity raining down towards them. Her eyes narrowed, blinking hard against the unrelenting onslaught of freezing droplets. _Heichou._

                “Oi, Mikasa!” Jean called from a ways behind her, struggling to keep up with his partner. “We can’t go running after this bastard; he’s at _least_ an SS++ and has already taken down the entire division we sent after him! We need to fall back!”

                “I’m not going to let this chance slip away, Jean! He’s hunting our colleagues; our friends; murdering entire families not to eat them but because they’re human. Killing for sport is inexcusable and I won’t let him get away!” A flash movement from overhead was all the warning that she had to bring up the metal box in her hand to block the concussive force of the attacking Ghoul’s strike. The metal shrieked and buckled but didn’t break, leaving her standing face to face with the Ghoul they’d been hunting for the past 6 months. His black and red eyes were merciless and cold as they bore into her own through the holes in his mask, a Kabuki style wooden carving of a white fox painted with gold and red adornments and with long sharp ears painted black at the tips. Around his neck was a long black scarf, wrapped once around him with the twin tails left to dangle down the back of the black leather trench coat he wore as the steel toed leather boots buckled to his knees found firm purchase on the soaked pavement to push against her resistance.

                “The shitty babble you just shouted only goes to show how uninformed the whole lot of you really are, Dove bitch!” He snarled, voice dark and harsh. “I don’t kill for sport, I kill for revenge! Because Humans are inferior and because you CCG bastards stole everything that ever mattered from me! Won’t let me get away?” thin lips peeled back over grated teeth in a sneer. “I welcome you to try!” The black-clad Ghoul leapt clear of her attempt to swing at him, landing in a crouch on the other side of the alley way before straightening up to his full height. “Well, do your worst.”

                “You think that we don’t stand a chance against him on our own? Well, we don’t have much choice.” Pushing her soaked-through bangs back from her face, she observed her companion from the corner of one eye. “Get your Quinque ready; Izanami alone isn’t enough to take care of this.” The button on the handle clicked softly as the metal case fell away to reveal the weapon inside, the shaft stretching outwards as the tapering violet crescent of the scythe’s blade unfurled itself, rain cascading down it in sheets as it continued to fall from the sky with no signs of letting up.

                “A Rinkaku and a Bikaku. Won’t be much help; isn’t he an Ukaku?” A second loud clattering of metal as his own Quinque-Savage-was revealed; his grip tightened almost involuntarily around the hilt of the sword. “Don’t you have a little brother to raise? We can still retreat, you know.”

                “Don’t be stupid, Jean.” She hissed back, keeping her gaze firmly locked on the foe before them. “It’s because of the fact that I have a little brother that I cannot allow a monster like this to just walk away when I have a chance to stop him. For all I know, Eren could well be his next victim!”

                “You so thoughtlessly call us monsters, and yet you hunt us down like animals! Use the body parts of the slaughtered as weapons! Those Quinque, as you call them, were once the Kagune of Ghouls.” A look of disgust crossed what little of his face they could see beneath the mask her wore before returning to the stoic inexpression of before. “Well, it seems that you two brats have no intention of holding back, so I suppose there’s no reason that I shouldn’t extend the same courtesy to you.” A slight distortion shimmered momentarily in the air around him before a glowing red mass began flowing outwards from his shoulder blades, forming into a pair of large blood-red wings which flickered like a raging flame and appeared much too large for the body to which they were attached. “Well then, shall we see if the confidence in your own abilities is well founded? I’ll give you one more chance to run.” Neither of them made any move to flee, though Jean’s eyes noticeably flickered towards the mouth of the alleyway. “Very well, then. If you brats fight well enough to impress me, I promise I’ll make your deaths only slightly painful!” Ukaku type ghouls were characterized by speed, this was a basic lesson taught during the first days of the academy, but the movements of the fox-masked Ghoul were so swift that they were almost impossible to follow with the naked eye, leaving a trail of images in his wake for a fraction of a second after his passing. The force behind one of his lunges alone was enough to leave a two foot crater in the street when Mikasa threw herself out of the way at the last possible moment.

                “By God, this bastard’s unreal!” Jean yelped, hurrying to reach where she’d skidded across the pavement. “Are you alright?”

                “I’m fine!” She told him, getting quickly back onto her feet. “We can’t just stand here and hope for the best by running defense! Low stamina aside, we won’t last that long!”

                “Well, attempting to go on the offensive alone won’t turn out well,” he replied. “We’ll have to move on him together.”

                “Working together is what partners are for, isn’t it?” Steadying herself, she tightened her grasp on the shaft of her blade. “Ready when you are.”

                “Let’s get this over with, whatever the hell the outcome ends up being!” They both started forwards, weapons at the ready and closing in front either side.

                _So they’re going to rush me? How predictable._ A flurry of razor sharp crystal shards erupted from the ghoul’s wings, forcing the two to break rank in order to dodge out of the way. Seizing his chance their attacker darted forwards and drove a punishing kick into Jean’s chest, sending him flying back down the alleyway.

                “ _Jean!”_

                “Never take your eyes off your opponent, dove brat!” Sparks flew from the blade of her weapon as it just barely succeeded in blocking the crystalized wings, forcing her to lose her footing and stumble somewhat. Pressing the advantage offered by her fairly cumbersome blade her closed in, red eyes flaming at the prospect of an impending kill. In a last desperate move Mikasa released her hold on her Quinque, dropping it to the street and pulling out a knife instead and aiming a swift strike at his mask; the wood splintered as the blade connected head on just above the right eye hole. Though the force was only barely enough to crack it she succeeded in unseating it from his face, sending the mask clattering to the alley floor with a hollow sound. All thoughts of battle fled in the face of survival as he reeled backwards with a furious snarl, throwing up his arms to conceal his face before leaping up onto a nearby rooftop to disappear into the rainy night. For the moment clear of any further danger she rushed to where Jean had fallen to find him bruised and bloodied by the fall but able to return to his feet without help.

                “Are you alright?”

                He nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. Bruises and scrapes, but I’ve gotten worse from training dummies.” Walking with only a slight limp back down the alley, he picked up his dropped weapon and the forsaken mask now lying in a large puddle. “So you actually managed to knock this off? That probably saved both our lives; did you see his face?”

                “No.” She admitted. “It was too dark, and he reacted too quickly. But that isn’t important; what is important is that we both came out of this alive and that now we know at least a small degree of exactly what it is he’s capable of. We survived him, so there’s no more need for speculation off of the injuries of the dead.”

                “Even that probably won’t be enough though, honestly. We’ll need numbers, more than we have in our own squad most likely. We may have to call on another division to help, and even then we may not come out of it alive; he’s not the only abnormally powerful Ghoul that’s been causing trouble lately.”

                “You’re probably right,” Mikasa agreed, eyes locked on the mask in his hand. “But regardless of what it takes I’ll keep fighting them, keep hunting them and killing them, so that no one else has to lose their family to these monsters and so that my brother will never have to see what he saw that night ever again. No matter what it takes, for Eren’s sake, I will kill them all.”

 

                There he sat, just as he had every single day religiously since the first time that Eren had ever noticed him there which had been the very first day he’d ever set foot in _Titan Coffee,_ the little café a few blocks down from the house where he lived with his elder sister. The picture of perfection, as usual: a small, chiseled Greek god wearing stone washed black jeans outlining the curves of his legs and accentuating the perfect globes of his pert ass and a faded grey T-shirt which clung to his muscular physique in all the right places; the cut off sleeves that left the smooth ivory skin of his arms exposed, the muscles rippling and flexing beneath it as his thin deft fingers smoothly manipulated the keys of the laptop which sat on the table in front of him; the short, true black hair styled into a military undercut and parted down the middle with bangs hanging down into razor-sharp eyes that were the color of cooling steel-stormy grey with flecks of silver and ice blue-riveted intently on his work; his _face_ , unforgettable, indescribable, and so perfect that it should have been illegal! A chill ran down his spine as the thin pale lips shaped themselves around the rim of the mug of coffee ever present at his side; how he’d have loved to have been in its place!

                “ _Eren!”_ The brunet nearly jumped a mile, his knee hitting the bottom of the table where he sat with his friend with a loud clatter of spoons and china.

                “Jesus, Armin!” He hissed, wiping the spilled coffee off of his hand before it had a chance to scald him. “What?”

                “You were drooling, that’s what!” The blonde informed his friend with a long suffering sigh. “If I didn’t know better I’d say that you don’t come here for the coffee, but rather for an excuse to stare at him.”

                “I-I-! _Of course not!_ ” He yelped, but the blush reached to his ears said otherwise as well as the fact that he couldn’t bring himself to meet his friend’s eyes. “I’m straight…I mean, I’m not…out.”

                “Do you even know his name?”

                Eren hesitated for a moment before answering with a reluctant “no.”

                “Have you ever spoken to him?”

                “No.”

                “Do you know anything about him?”

                “He’s a student at Trost University; a senior: 23!” Eren couldn’t help the dreamy tone that pervaded his voice when he spoke. “And that if he looks at me I’ll spontaneously combust and the shop keeper will have to sweep my ashes out of the door at closing time.”

                Armin rolled his eyes. “With talk like that you could easily have been the uncontested president of the drama club if you’d bothered to apply.” He told him dryly. “Pining isn’t going to help you. If you really want anything to have a single chance of coming out of your little crush you’re going to have to make it happen because with that work load Uni-boy certainly isn’t going to be coming over here.”

                “Me? Talk to him? Are you insane?” he demanded, considering crawling underneath the table to hide. Why had he ever allowed them to get onto this topic in the first place? Oh, wait, he hadn’t exactly had a choice in the matter. “Do you _want_ to see me go into cardiac arrest?”

                He just shook his head. “If you want something badly enough, in certain situations you understand that you have to take them for yourself. You have ‘hunter’ in your last name, and you dive fearlessly into fist fights you know you can’t win at barely any thought on the matter. You constantly talk about wanting to join the CCG once you’re old enough to enlist in the academy, and yet you can’t introduce yourself to a stranger at a coffee shop?”

                “Screw you.” He grumbled, pushing his chair away from the table and getting to his feet. “If he murders me, you’d better make sure that Mikasa knows my untimely death was _your_ fault!” His stomach started to churn violently as he crossed the restaurant floor towards the table in the corner; amazing how loud his heart beat sounded in that moment, and how far a few steps seemed to stretch when anticipation held him in a vice grip. It was far too much later, yet at the same time far too soon, that he arrived at the other’s table and those ice shard eyes turned onto him.

                “Can I help you with something, brat?” his voice was a warm dark tenor, as sweet to his ears as ambrosia was to the tongue; his knees went weak and it was all that he could do to keep his legs from buckling. All sentient thought instantly fled him in a rush of white. “Well?”

                _Be cool; be suave. You’re smooth: you’ve got this. Say something witty, and impress him; don’t come off as the stupid high school freshman you know you really are._ But his mouth currently felt like he’d been injected with lidocaine and what came out was a most ineloquent “H-Hi” accompanied with numerous heavy pants. Eren wasn’t sure which he wanted to do more in that moment: slap himself or sink into the floor and disappear. The raven’s eyebrows quirked up slightly but he didn’t comment on his off behavior: swooning by both genders was something he was likely well used to by now.

                “Hello.” He replied instead. “Something you need?”

                “You!” Fuck! Thirsty virgin much? This was awkward. “I-I mean, I’ve noticed you! I watch you every time I come in!” Oh, great, now he sounded like some sort of desperate stalker. This couldn’t possibly get any worse. “I-I’m Eren.”

                That seemed to capture his interest, something inexplicable yet somehow chilling flashing through his eyes though it disappeared before the brunet could be sure if he really saw it. “Levi.” Came the seamless reply as he gestured towards the empty chair across from him, closing the lid of his lap top with the other hand. “Have a seat, Eren. I would assume from the fact that you’ve…taken an interest in me that you’ve come over here for more than simple introductions. Why don’t we talk about it?”

                “O-Oh, thank you.” Eren’s blush lessoned from almost purple to a slightly less alarming pink as he did as he was told, hesitantly sitting on the edge of the chair as if afraid that it might suddenly burst into flames. “As for why I came over, w-well…I’m not quite sure…how to say this since I’ve never really dated before and…I’m not exactly “out” but I know what I like and…God, this is awkward! For all I know you’re straight and think I’m on drugs.”

                In stark contrast, Levi seemed to be only slightly amused by the situation. “I’m 23, brat. You can’t be any more than 15.”

                “I’ll be 15 in March.”

                “14? That’s even more illegal.”

                “Only if we do anything, and it’s not illegal unless we’re caught. Not,” he added quickly, “that I’m expecting anything to happen!”

                “So you’re asking me on a date?” Levi inquired, raising his cup of coffee to take another drink.

                Eren nodded. “Yeah, I guess it is.”

                If he hadn’t been so distracted by embarrassment he might have noticed the raven’s nose twitch as he scented the air, evaluating his scent from his place across the table. “Sure, why not. You certainly seem like a…choice cut.” He couldn’t help but think that was a rather odd choice of words, turning red as the other’s eyes shamelessly scoured every inch of his form. “But I’m afraid that very little time is open in my schedule this week; winter break begins soon, but before that I have to survive the axe murder spree that is Uni finals. This place, however, seems to be an integral part of both of our daily schedules so how about we meet up tomorrow at the usual time; drink some coffee, have lunch and get to know each other better. Perhaps, if all goes well, exchange numbers?”

                “That sounds good to me, Levi. I, uh…I’ll be sure to be here right on time!”

                “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow then brat. “He said, picking up his lap top and sliding it into his bag. “I hate to run out on you right away, but I have studying to do for my major and I have an urgent errand that I need to run before I head home. It was nice to meet you, Eren.”

                “Same. Take care on your way back, the Ghoul activity in the area has picked up lately apparently.”

                “I’ll be fine, brat. I’m staying on the main roads, never you worry.” Only after he was out on the street did he allow the evil smirk to unfurl across his face. _I don’t normally make a habit of playing with my food-it’s such a filthy habit, really-but this brat is different. Originally I’d planned to get back at that dove bitch directly by hunting her down again at my earliest convenience, but if he’s the ‘Eren’ that I think he is-her beloved brother that she so kindly mentioned-than that means I have a much more affective means to do so._ Turning off of the main road and melting into the shadows of an abandoned construction site as they deepened into night, he allowed the red to bleed into his eyes. _I’ll make them all feel every bit of the pain I’ve felt since they ripped my family away from me before I kill them. The brat is the easiest way that I have to do that. Now, all I have to do is gain his trust._


	2. Something in the Coffee

 

                The streets of the 6th ward were unforgiving even to someone as powerful as him, and so it was with a careful eye on every shadow that Levi quickly and alertly made his way towards his destination. To most the little off alley way would be nothing more than just another back street unworthy of even so much as a second glance, but to those Ghouls who possessed both an eye for quality and the power to make it-or stupidity to try to make it-through one of the city’s most dangerous districts the small door contained within was the entrance to a little known store that, since the advent of the CCG, sold one of the greatest necessities towards their survival; masks to conceal their faces. The sign hanging in the darkened window firmly stated **Sorry, We’re Closed** but Levi was hardly in the mood to wait until morning and simply kicked in the door without bothering to check and see if it was locked first. The interior of the store was submerged in shadow, a multitude of small tables clogging the floor each bearing up masked mannequins was the only other feature aside from the cashier’s desk standing unoccupied in the far corner. Yet more masks, carved from any number of different materials and adorned with paints in all colors and baubles of all sorts from the barest of simplistic to the gaudy and outlandish, hung from the walls and ceiling staring down at him with empty, almost accusatory eyes.

                “Oi, Shitty Glasses! You in here?” He called, his eyes being drawn to a slight movement down near his feet; looking downwards he was met with the sight of a pair of lamp like green eyes peering up at him. “Bean? If your damn cats are here I know you are too, so wherever the hell it is you’re hiding it’s time to come out!”

                “Shorty, is that really you?” a growl built up in the depths of his chest in reply as she pocked her head around the corner of the doorway leading to the back room. As usual, her hair was a rat’s nest which had been pinned back with a ponytail and chopsticks in a futile attempt to solve the problem that only made it worse and her enormous glasses were badly smudged and covered in fingerprints. “It’s been months since any of us have seen you, but we’ve certainly heard about what you’ve been up to! Erwin isn’t happy, I hope you know that.”

                “I do know that. I also don’t give a flaming fuck what Eyebrows thinks!” He snapped. “There’s nothing left for me but vengeance now, and nothing in this world can ever hope to change that. The days of the CCG’s terrorism and the Human’s rule of this world are numbered, but a sizeable wrench has been thrown into my plans.”

                “You mean to tell me something actually went wrong with your psychotic musings?” the surprise in her voice physically grated on his nerves; one of the small muscles in his face twitched but if she noticed this she didn’t pay it any mind. “What happened?”

                “Last night I ran into another division of the CCG’s lackies; I took them down easily, but two more gave chase. They were weak and I could have easily killed them, but the dove bitch knocked off my mask and I couldn’t grab it without revealing my face. I need you to make a new one. And I’d prefer that it look as close as possible to the original.” He informed her. “I’ll pay as much as I have to, but I want it to be done quickly. Is that an overly difficult thing for your shitty thick skull to understand?”

                “I might end up having to change the colors if you want it expedited since I’m very nearly out of white at the moment, but if that isn’t a problem I should be able to have it ready for you by the time your finals are over.” She told him. “Is that soon enough?”

                “That’s fine, and I don’t give a damn what color it is as long as it does the job that it’s intended for.” He snapped. “You have my number; call me to come and pick it up once you’ve finished. Until then, I suppose the Doves are just going to have to find someone else to entertain them.”

                “Well, I’ll let you know the soonest possible time that you can come back and pick it up.” Hanji assured her friend. “In the meantime, where I’d like to be able to say the mandatory ‘focus on your studies so you can get good grades and graduate at the top bracket of your class’ and leave it at that I really think you should at least check in with Erwin. He’s worried about you, Levi. At least let him know that you’re still alive.”

                “Worried about me, is he?” he scoffed. “Yeah, fine. I’ll check it at some point when I find myself nearby and possessed of the time. I really do have a test to worry about tomorrow, so I’m going to have to cut this short and deal with your shit later. Go back to doing whatever the hell you were doing back there before I interrupted you.”

                “A pleasure to see you too as always, Shorty. Good luck on that test.” He’d have loved to have strangled her for that damned nickname she insisted on referring to him by, but he really didn’t have the time for that so he settled for walking out and slamming the door behind him instead. Delays were never something that he favored, but it was unavoidable that he’d have to remain out of the CCG’s eye for at least as long as it took Hanji to make his new mask. Luckily for him he’d gotten in the time to feed last night and wouldn’t need to eat again for at least two days when his hunger became too much to ignore. That meant he had two days before he had to go crawling to Erwin and sit through the customary ‘what the hell are you doing’ lecture before being hooked up with the flesh of suicide victims for however long he needed it. Being forced to fly below the radar also had its benefits, however. It meant that he could fully devote himself to the task at hand of courting the pretty green eyed boy who had not the slightest idea he was flirting with his death. More time to gain his trust and lull him into a false sense of security. More time to plan a particularly brutal death for him before leaving his corpse on his sister’s doorstep. Tomorrow was the first and arguably the most important step in that plan, and upon his return to the apartment where he lived alone when he should have been pouring over text books he was drilling himself over what to ask the boy instead.

 

                “Eren, come down to eat; dinner is ready.” Sure, 4 o clock in the afternoon was a bit early but Mikasa knew she’d be called out again at any moment and given that her brother could barely boil water on his own without her making it when she had the chance he’d go without eating for the night. Normally he’d come rushing down the stairs at the merest mention of food no matter what it was that he’d been doing, so when he didn’t immediately come tearing out of his bedroom to plop down at the kitchen table across from her his sister became somewhat concerned. Had he fallen asleep? Was he even home? She hadn’t checked on him when she’d arrived home three hours before, taking a quick nap before beginning to make dinner. “Eren.” She repeated, going up the stairs and pushing open the door of his bedroom. “What _happened_ in here?” it almost looked like a bomb had gone off; his closet door was open and all of the drawers in his wardrobe had been turned out, clothing of every imaginable sort was strewn in all directions and her brother, wearing nothing but boxers, was sitting in the middle of the devastation with an expression of minor panic on his face.

                “Mikasa,” he looked somewhat hopeful on seeing her. “Thank God! I need help; what am I supposed to wear on my first date?” Date? When had that happened? She didn’t even know that he’d met someone. “I mean, it’s not really a date…even though I did ask him out…but it’s more like a pre-date…if that makes sense. We’re going to Titan Café but I want to impress him and I don’t know what to wear! He’s a _senior_ and I don’t want to look like the 14 year old that I really am!”

                Him? She hadn’t known that her brother was gay, of course it didn’t really matter to her but he hadn’t seemed the type. Then again she hadn’t been around all that much recently. “What about this?” she randomly selected a black _My Chemical Romance_ Band t-shirt and a pair of ripped blue jeans. “You’re not going anywhere fancy, so just wear something you normally would. It doesn’t matter how you look, it matter what you act like Eren. Don’t worry so much.”

                “But he’s a _senior_ and I already acted like an idiot yesterday when I couldn’t even control what came out of my mouth!” He practically wailed.

                “18 isn’t that much older than you, Eren! He was 14 himself 4 years ago!” Mikasa found it a little bit strange that he gave her a shifty look in reply, but was relieved when he let out a small sigh and took the clothing that she’d chosen. “Get dressed and then come down and eat. I’ll drive you to the Café on my way into work, alright?”

                “Alright, thanks Mika.” He told her with a somewhat bashful smile, getting to his feet. He towered over her already and he hadn’t even hit his growth spurt yet. “I’ll be down in five minutes.” True to his word her brother was down the stairs and at the table in just less than that time, hurriedly shoving forkfuls of pasta into his mouth to clean his plate before rushing to the front room and throwing on a hooded grey jacket and a pair of worn-out sneakers. “Do I look ok?”

                “You look great; like you thought about what you were going to wear but not like you put some much effort into it that you ended up trying too hard.” She told him as they walked out to the car.

                “Can I ride in the passage seat?”

                “Go ahead, you’re tall enough now that the air bag won’t be a problem.” His sister replied, getting into the driver’s seat and starting the car once her brother was inside and buckled up.

                “You don’t have to drive me, you know. It’s right down the street.”

                “It’s on my way though, so I thought I’d save you the trouble. You’ll have to walk home though, I probably won’t be back for a while.” Mikasa said. “But we need to talk about this.”

                He rolled his eyes. “For God’s sake, Mikasa is that really a necessary conversation?”

                “Yes, it is. And you know why. I see what those monsters do to people every day. You’ve seen it to, with what happened to our parents. He’s a stranger that you met in a coffee shop; for all you know he’s not even Human Eren.” Her voice wasn’t harsh, but it had taken on the firm tone that made it quite clear to even someone as stubborn as Eren that protest would not be tolerated. “I’ll allow you to see him in public only; you’re forbidden to ever be alone with him until I’ve met him at least once, especially at night. Do you understand?”

                “Mika-.”

                “Do you understand!?”

                He sighed but nodded. “Yes, Mom.”

                She pushed his shoulder gently before running a hand through his hair in a futile effort to tame it somewhat as they pulled into the café’s parking lot. “Go have fun. Be polite and behave yourself, and you’ll be fine.”

                “Thanks; I’ll see you when you get home.” Leaping out of the passenger side car door Eren rushed up the concrete steps and into the café. His eyes quickly scanned the room, locating Levi waiting for him at the same table that he always sat at. Walking over, he carefully lowered himself into the empty chair. “Hey. Sorry if I kept you waiting.”

                “I only just arrived here myself, brat. Don’t worry about it.” Again the grey-blue eyes scanned his form, measuring him up in a way that had Eren nearly squirming in his seat; he couldn’t help but fear that the older male would find him wanting. “That outfits very different from what you had on yesterday. I like it.” Immediately he felt his cheeks flare red. Levi grinned, a small smile that was almost predatory in appearance, and reached out a hand to gently rest the tips of his fingers against the heated flesh. “You look good when you blush, brat.” This made him turn even redder, much to the raven’s amusement. “What do you drink?”

                “Huh?” the boy asked, surprised by the sudden question; his mind seemed to be suddenly moving slower than usual.

                “Drink, brat. I haven’t ordered anything, yet. So, what do you want?”

                “O-Oh. Uh, just coffee please.” Eren told him, moving to reach for the wallet in his pocket. “I’ve got my money here-.” The cool, thin fingers around his wrist stopped him cold; Eren startled slightly at finding the raven’s face suddenly startlingly close to his own. So close that he could feel the heat rising off the other’s body and smell his scent; clean linens, soap, bleach and a hint of something…metallic.

                “No, you’re not paying for anything brat. I’ve got it.”

                “But you’re in college.”

                “On a full-ride scholarship; even with rent I’ve got a good bit to spare and it’s not like coffee is the most expensive thing in the world.” An air of finality permeated his words and the expression on his face seemed to dare the younger male to try and challenge him.

 Eren opened his mouth to speak, swallowed thickly and then stuttered “o-ok.”

“Good brat. I’ll be right back.” He left him sitting dumbstruck at the table to order their drinks, returning a few minutes later with the coffee and sitting back down. “I’ve no clue how you take your coffee, so I’m just going to leave that much to you if you don’t mind.”

“Oh, yeah that’s fine.” He assured him somewhat shakily. “H-how do you take your coffee, Levi?”

“Black.” He replied calmly. “Like my humor.”

Despite his nearly frayed nerves the brunet couldn’t suppress a rather embarrassing snort of amusement, which lead him to cover his face in his hands and blush furiously once again causing Levi to laugh at him. “What about you, brat. How do you take your coffee?”

“With cream and sugar so I’m just going to, uh, go over there and get that.” He fled the table quickly, ears feeling like they were on fire. He took far longer than was necessary to pour the needed milk and sugar into his drink to give himself time to calm down before returning to the table again.

“So you’re a high school freshman?”

He nodded. “Yeah.” Eren told him. “It’s…different than middle school. And I’m not sure if that’s in a good way or not.”

“Family, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Eren’s face noticeably fell, the green hues of his eyes dimming somewhat. “My parents were killed by Ghouls when I was 8 years old. It’s just been me and my sister, Mikasa, ever since but recently she hasn’t been around all of that much.”

“And why would that be?”

“She’s an investigator first class in the CCG, and the recent influx in activity has been keeping her away from home more often than not. It’s a bit lonely, but I’ve got my best friend to keep me company. And…maybe you, now, if you’re not too busy.”

“Not at all, aside from the week of finals my class load is actually pretty laid back and my job doesn’t really care if I call in sick for no reason. You want to hang out or anything, just hit me up; hand my your cell and I’ll put my number in it.” Eren pulled the small black flip phone out of his pocket and handed it over. “A bit outdated, don’t you think?”

He shrugged. “I suppose, but I don’t really do anything but call and text with my phone so it doesn’t really matter to me. Besides, I could run that thing over with a car repeatedly and it wouldn’t break.” Finished putting his number into the phone he handed it back. “If I can ask you the same question?”

“My family is dead too, brat. But they’ve been dead a lot longer than yours has and it wasn’t Ghouls who killed them.” He replied, taking a drink of his coffee. “I’m sure you can relate when I say that you don’t get over it. I swore revenge on those that killed them, and I’m getting closer to achieving that.”

“Funny, we have more in common than a thought: I plan to get revenge on the Ghouls as well. When I’m old enough, I’m going to enlist!” This time Eren didn’t miss the flickering of what almost looked like anger as it flitted across his carefully maintained control. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, brat. I’m fine.”

“I guess that this is the best time to say this; it’s about my sister.”

“What, that she doesn’t like the thought of her 14 year old brother dating a 23 year old man? Can’t really blame her.”

“It isn’t that, but…like I said she’s in the CCG and so she’s a little…I guess you could say paranoid.” Eren admitted. “She thinks that there’s a risk that you could be a Ghoul in disguise so she wants to meet you in person before we do anything out of the public eye, which includes going over to your apartment. I think she’s being ridiculous but…I won’t be able to see you at all if I don’t go along with it. I hope you don’t mind.”

“She doesn’t care about my age, just the fact that I could possibly be plotting to lure you into an alleyway and rip out your entrails?”

The brunet shifted slightly in his seat. “She actually seems to think that when I said you were a senior that I meant in high school.”

“So she thinks I’m 18?” he nodded. “Wonderful, we’ll have to clear that one up.”

“Yeah, I guess we will.”

Checking his watch, Levi grimaced. “Shit, I got to head back since I have a shift tonight. You let your sister call me when you next see her and we’ll set up a date for the two of us to talk. Alright?”

“Yeah, s-sure.” He said as the raven got to his feet to leave. “O-Oh, Levi! Don’t you want my phone number too?”

“Shoot me a text, I’ll take it from there.” Much to Eren’s shock his companion delivered a swift kiss to his cheek before purring “make it quick, I want to spend more time with you as soon as possible” into his ear and walking out leaving the boy frozen in place. As he walked out the door, he couldn’t help but lick his lips. _You do smell marvelous, don’t you._


	3. Photograph

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We gain some insight into what turned Levi into a bitter homicidal maniac.

 

Eren had informed her of how everything had gone the moment that she had returned home and it was only semi-reluctantly that he had handed over the phone number Levi had given him and so now she sat on the edge of the bed in her room with the phone at her ear listening to the hollow distant ringing at the other end of the line until it was finally picked up. The sound of the city streets-car horns, rolling wheels and loud voices-immediately flooded through the speakers along with a male voice which inquired “three days without word, brat? Don’t tell me I was really that frightening.”

“Actually, this is his sister. I’m sure that my brother told you I would be calling?”

                A moment of silence followed before he answered with a small sound of understanding. “To make sure that I’m not going to suddenly be afflicted by a crippling case of the munchies and decide to chew his face off, yeah he did mention that. Excuse the racket, if you can; at the moment I’m headed out to speak with an acquaintance of mine who owns a restaurant and is in the habit of donating his unused ingredients so that my diet doesn’t consist solely of coffee and instant ramen.”

                “It’s not a problem, we won’t be speaking much over the phone as I’d rather do this face to face.”

                “Understandable, but I think there’s definitely one thing which needs clearing up immediately which the brat alerted me to when we saw each other last. It’s about my age.”

                “He told me; you’re a senior. 18 isn’t that much of a problem.”

                “A senior, yes, at Trost University not at his high school. I’m 23.”

                That would explain the weird look she’d received when she had helped her brother to get ready, and to be completely fair on the matter though he hadn’t bothered to correct her she had been the one to come to the conclusion that ‘he’s a senior’ automatically implied a high school student. “That…is also something that will have to be addressed, given that nearly a decade older…it’s quite an age gap. You’re only a year younger than me.”

                A small snort of amusement filtered through the phone. “I thought so too, but it would seem that the brat is searching for the maturity that he himself lacks.”

                “I’m inclined to agree with you.”

                “It’s interesting that, even knowing my age, you’re still willing to consider my having a relationship with your brother.” He mused. “If I’m allowed to ask, just how liberal are you?”

                “Open minded; it’s possible that you could be good for my brother. It would definitely do him good to have an older man in his life, even if it’s as a…lover. I’m sure you can tell that I’m still trying to get used to the idea, I didn’t know that he was gay. But we’ll have to see what I think about you when we meet face to face; even if you’re not a Ghoul I don’t want a sleaze bag anywhere near my brother!” She replied. “And if he ever gets drunk under your watch I’ll throttle you.”

                “Warning heeded,” but Levi sounded more amused then threatened by the prospect. “I have a flexible schedule at the bar where I work, so shall we make plans to speak on the next day you’re off? I’ve been told that your job keeps you quite busy.”

                “Would tonight be too soon? There’s no telling when ‘the next day I’m off’ is going to happen and Eren isn’t the most patient person in the world, not to mention that he’s staying over at Armin’s for tonight so I won’t have to worry about him arguing with my decision if he ends up not liking it.”

                “Tonight is fine for me, what time should I be over? I’ll see you at 6 o clock this evening, then. Goodbye.” Hanging up the phone at last, he shoved it as deep into his back pocket as it would go before pushing open the door to the little deli. The bell hanging over head tinkled brightly at his arrival, prompting the ginger haired woman in a waitress uniform to turn to face him.

                “Good afternoon and welcome to-Levi, is that you?”

                “Where is he, the back room again?” his eyes narrowed as he scanned the room. “At least this place managed to stay passably clean since I left.”

                “Oh, yes, the manager is upstairs at the moment. I can get him for you-.”

                “That won’t be necessary,” he told her quickly; the longer that he could avoid speaking to Erwin the better.

                “You’re right Levi, it won’t be.” He didn’t even bother to hide his grimace as the much taller blonde man stepped out of the door marked **staff only**. “If you wouldn’t mind allowing us to speak in private, Petra?”

                “There really isn’t any need for this,” he protested as the other made herself scarce. “You know why I’m here; just give me what I came for and I’ll be on my way. Wouldn’t want to darken your happy-ass doorstep for too long, after all.”

                “And why should we help you?” the blue eyes were remarkably hard and cold as they glared down at him. “Had you continued the way you were, cannibalizing other ghouls, you’d be nothing but a raving monster now. We took you in, gave you a job and helped you to start rebuilding your life, and then six months ago you disappear without a trace? So why should we help you now, knowing you’ll just throw it back in our faces again.”

                “Isn’t ‘helping our fellow Ghouls’ your fucking policy?”

                “And how have you been helping your fellow Ghouls lately?”

                “ _How do you think I’ve been helping them? I’ve been helping them by doing a whole hell of a lot more than you ever will! Protecting entire wards single handedly from those box-carrier Dove bastards!”_

“Why are you always such a stubborn fool? Can’t you see that all your pathetic crusade has done is bring the Doves down on the heads of the innocents you claim to be protecting? The blind pursuit of vengeance for what happened to you has consumed you completely, Levi!”

                “ _Revenge is all I have now!”_ He snarled back, already short temper snapping like a stressed rubber band. “Don’t you get it, you peace addicted self-important addled old jackass!? All of the misery that we have to go through is all at the fault of their worthless kind! They’re useless! Good for nothing but providing food! They refuse to acknowledge us as anything but mindless animals with no thoughts or feelings, they kill us in the streets whenever they’re given the chance, so why the hell should we bother to treat them as anything but the prey animals they are? Why the hell should we pretend? You think that denying me will put an end to my ‘crusade’? Ha! Fuck you! If I have to starve until Shitty Glasses finishes my mask I will but I’m sure as hell not going to stand for your shit! You want to keep on playing tea party with the Humans, Erwin? Go right ahead! Some of us have to be _real_ Ghouls!” The door slammed so hard behind him that the glass rattled in its pane; he flounced down the street with a face that spoke of murder, jostling bystanders out of his way without a single thought and no one dared to try and stop him.  One of his neighbors poked their head out of their window to watch him pass but a flaming scowl sent them packing quickly and he slammed the door of his apartment as well before heading into his bedroom. _Bastard!_ His cell phone slammed into the far wall with a loud thunk before dropping to the floor where it lay forsaken. He kicked the side of his bed with all of the strength that he could muster, the wood giving way beneath his foot with an enormous crack, before he threw himself down onto the mattress clawing at the sheets until his nails bled and letting out an inhuman scream of rage that was swallowed by his pillow. He screamed and screamed until he was hoarse and out of breath, and only once his tantrum had passed did he dare to raise his head. His eyes fell on it immediately, the ever present reminder of why he fought. Of all that it was which he had lost because he hadn’t been there when he should have been. The picture of them together, smiling and happy, taken just days before their peaceful life had been shattered like the glass which now held the picture in its frame.

_“Careful, Levi. They say the box carriers have been out in force lately, and if you’re going into town alone…”_

_“You worry too much Farlan, I’ll be fine.” The raven assured his friend, pulling the coat up over his shoulders to protect himself from the December chill. “Isabelle is insisting on baking a cake for my 17 th even though we all know none of us are going to eat it, so I’m heading into town to purchase the ingredients she’ll need from the grocer. The trains stopped running about an hour ago, so it may take me a bit longer than usual to get back; don’t panic if I’m late.”_

_“Are you sure that you don’t want me to go with you?” Farlan asked his friend, concern etched across his face._

_“Church, Humans aren’t that bad. They’re similar to us, really; intelligent and kind. None of us have ever been responsible for a predatory attack; we’re innocent and as such we have nothing to fear from the Doves.”_

_“Levi-.”_

_“Besides, leaving Isabelle to her own devices isn’t a very good idea. Someone has to stay and make sure she doesn’t burn the house down.” He said, grey-blue eyes gleaming mischievously. “We’ve survived this long, and we’ve been so careful; never caused even the slightest disturbance. I’ll be fine. WE’LL be fine. Now, if I wait any longer the store will be closed by the time I get there.”_

_“Be safe.”_

_“I will.” Securing the scarf around his neck, Levi offered his friend one last small smile before opening the front door and stepping out onto the porch. The streets of the neighborhood were dark, but the houses lining them were aglow with the many twinkling colors of Christmas decorations and his breath rose in silvery puffs into the cold wintery night air heavy with the sharp, almost metallic scent of the deep drifts of glittering white snow blanketing the front yard of the house where he lived with his two friends, the closest thing he’d ever known to family. The crisp snow crunched beneath his footsteps as he set out down the side walk, reaching the city in about 20 minutes and heading directly for the grocer in the middle of town. Pulling the small list from where he’d stowed it in his pocket he went up and down the aisles in search of the requested ingredients and arrived at the checkout an hour later after successfully locating all of it._

_“Did you have much trouble finding anything, sir?” the cashier asked him brightly as she rang up his purchase._

_“A little, I’ll admit. But that’s only because my sister usually takes care of the shopping.” A seamless lie as he paid before picking up his bags and walking out with a polite “merry Christmas.” The walk back was peaceful with no one else out on the streets and not a single car in sight; cold but quiet with the cloudless sky above his head shining with the full moon and thousands of stars making it seem in that moment as if all were right with the world. So the profound sense of wrongness that suddenly overcame him when he turned onto the walkway leading up to his house immediately sent his instincts into overdrive. The windows were dark, the front door hanging open off its hinges with blade marks cut into the threshold and blood splattering the porch outside. The bags fell to the ground with a clatter as Levi rushed into the house, his feet promptly catching on something which dragged him to the floor with a heavy thud. Cursing under his breath as he pushed himself back up onto all fours he turned to glare at the object responsible only to have his blood run cold. What he’d tripped over was a tail laying just inside the front door, the spine-adorned appendage immediately recognizable to him. He didn’t need to look further into the shadows and see the body lying there to know that it was Farlan, the sight of his best friend’s Kagune was enough. They’d been attacked? By who? Another Ghoul? Surely it couldn’t have been a Human, they hadn’t done anything wrong to call the CCG down on them. Doves had no reason to be there. “Isabelle.” Forcing his body to move, he threw himself towards the stairs. “ISABELLE!!!” All that he could hear was the thudding of his own heart and the blood rushing in his ears as he ran to the second floor, kicking open the door to her bed room and rushing inside. “Isa-!” his voice was abruptly cut off by the blade that pierced his chest from behind, the thick coppery taste of his own blood coating his tongue as it flew from his mouth and splattered the floor. Stunned and uncomprehending he looked down at himself in an effort to decipher what had happened, but all he saw was blood coating the front of his chest and the tip of a sword-style Quinque protruding a few inches shy of his heart before his legs gave out and he collapsed, sliding off of the blade and onto the floor with a thump._

_“I knew we missed one.” A human voice drawled from above him as a pair of men moved into the room, their faces concealed by shadows from his position on the floor. “That’s the other male that was reported to live here. They’re leader.”_

_The hot dark scarlet blood had already begun to form a puddle around him as he struggled to breathe, managing to force out a few words of speech. “W-Why? We’ve never…hurt anyone. We’re…innocent!”_

_“Innocent?” the Human who had stabbed him repeated with a scoff, slowly digging the blade into the raven’s back as he lay defenseless on the floor and seeming to revel in the cry of anguish that ripped out of him. “There’s no such thing as an ‘innocent’ Ghoul. Every last one of you worthless parasites are monsters; you’re a plague on this world that mankind has suffered for long enough!” He twisted the blade brutally once, twice, and watched his agonized victim go limp on the floor. “We’re done here, come along.”_

_“B-But Sir, it’s still alive!”_

_“It won’t be for long; as soon as they’re finished harvesting the boy’s Kagune for my new Quinque they’re setting this tinderbox on fire. If the blood loss doesn’t kill this monster, the flames will. Now, let’s go.”_

_“Of course, Sir.” The footsteps faded away as blood loss dragged Levi down into unconsciousness. When he woke up the air was hot and tick with choking smoke, the darkness tinged red-orange by growing flames. He felt cold from the loss of blood and pain knifed through him at even the smallest of movements, but despite his weakness ne managed to drag himself somewhat upright onto all fours and crawl for his life. Out of the door. Down the hallway. He reached for the banister to pull himself down the stairs but his body gave out and he tumbled painfully down them instead, landing at the bottom on his back with his vision going in and out of focus as the flames grew further up the walls and smoke and ashes rained down on top of him._

_‘Humans.’ He’d once thought them fascinating and even harmless, but now the mere thought of them made his blood boil with rage. ‘You call us monsters, and yet you’re the ones who are attacking the innocent! Slaughtering the defenseless and murdering whole families who have done nothing wrong! The real monsters are YOU!_ ’ _Somehow he managed to roll himself over and drag his body hand over fist the rest of the way out of the burning house and into the fresh air where he collapsed onto the snowy yard. ‘I will never forgive your kind for this. I swear on my life, you will be eradicated!_

                The knocking on the door of his apartment pulled him back to the present day, where he found himself once more lying on his back in his bed staring at the ceiling of his room. _Six years? Has it really been that long?_ He wondered, sitting up with a heavy sigh. _I get closer and closer to revenge every day; the further that I cut into the forces of the CCG the closer that I bring myself to that sick bastard who did this to us. It won’t be much longer now, I promise you._ More knocking, slightly more urgent this time. Throwing the sheets back Levi got to his feet and headed towards the front of his apartment. “I’m coming, I’m coming you impatient little shit!” Unlocking the door but leaving the dead bolt in place, he threw it open to reveal the figure standing on the other side. “What in the ever living fuck do you want? I have no interest in dealing with Erwin’s lackies today, I’ve already had to speak to him!”

                “I know that you spoke to him, as a matter of fact we all do: we heard you yelling before you stormed out.” Eld replied, holding up the plastic bag in his hand for the other to see. “But I’m not here to give you any grief Levi.”

                Closing the door, he released the dead bolt before opening it again to its full width. “Come in then, Jinn.” The taller blonde stepped inside and removed his shoes at the door before following his friend into the kitchen and setting the bag down on the counter top. “Does Eyebrows know you came down here?”

                “Nah; he doesn’t want any of us to help you while you’re behaving like a lunatic but I know you well enough by now that even with how hellish starvation is it isn’t going to stop you.” Eld told him. “I figured I’d save you some pain.”

                “Thanks,” Levi said, opening the fridge and placing the bag inside. “Really.”

                “No problem.”

                Removing one of the wrapped steaks from the bag before closing the refrigerator door, he unwrapped it and examined the meat for a moment before raising an eyebrow. “Is there any particular reason you’ve given me the best cuts of meat?”

                “You prefer to hunt for yourself so that the meat is fresh. I figured having somewhat better quality meat would make up for the fact that it’s not a fresh kill.”

                “Thanks,” he said again, pulling down a plate before going in search of a knife and fork.

                “You’re eating now? I thought you preferred not to have people see you eating?”

                “I don’t, but I have 20 minutes to make it to an appointment across town and I still need to change and pick up a bottle of wine.” He told him flatly. “I hardly have the time to spare.”

                “I’ll leave you be, then. I should probably head back before anyone notices that I’m gone anyway.” Eld said. “By the way, Petra told me to let you know that if you need any help you can still call on us. But we’ll have to do it behind Erwin’s back so it may take longer than usual.”

                “I’ll keep that in mind,” Levi told him as his friend walked away, closing the door quietly behind him. Once he was gone the raven cut off a small chunk of the meat and stuffed it into his mouth; he grimaced at the somewhat stale taste but wallowed anyway and took another bite. Twenty minutes to change, run down to the corner store and grab a bottle of wine, and make it to the brats house at the predetermined time? So long as nothing else came up to get in his way he should arrive right on schedule.


	4. Dinner with the Lioness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Semi-awkward dinner with Mikasa. Eren returns home without warning and a second date is planned for the next day.

 

                The soft knock rang through the empty house just as the clock turned to 6 in the evening, pulling Mikasa away from the boiling pot on the stove to answer the door.

                “Perfectly on time: is punctuality something that’s normal for you?” she asked, stepping aside to allow him into the house. “You must be Levi.”

                “And you must be Mikasa,” he replied, offering a small smile as he held up a bottle of wine. “I brought a bottle of wine with me as I assumed from what you said on the phone that we’re both of the age where it’s legal to drink every once in a while; it’s cheap as shit but I know a bartender’s trick to make it not taste like it.” She observed him carefully, taking note of his pale skin clean cut appearance and short black hair. He was short, Mikasa noticed, especially for a man at just over 5 feet tall and was dressed in an oversized Trost U hoodie, the excess of forest green fabric only making him seem smaller. The spread blue and white wings on the back were cracked from the number of washes they’d endured, as the sweatshirt was clearly worn often and much loved and underneath it he wore long faded black sweat pants and a pair of black and white Adidas flip flops. Unassuming. The very image of the stereotypical Human college student. Almost as if he’d purposely done all he could to make himself look as non-threatening as possible, and that in and of itself had her weary. “You’re really related to the brat? You don’t look like him at all.”

                “I’m his half-sister; same mother but different fathers which is why my last name is Ackerman while his is Yeager.”

                Levi chuckled, “well that’s certainly a surprising coincidence. My last name is also Ackerman.”

                “Small world.”

                “Very.”

                “Dinner should be ready in about five minutes; I know beef stew isn’t exactly the greatest thing in the world but I didn’t have time to run out to the store and that was about all we had the ingredients on hand for so I hope you don’t mind.”

                “Not at all, anything that is frozen and doesn’t come out of a box is a rare treat for me.” He assured her, offering a charming smile. “Would you happen to have a blender?”

                That was certainly the oddest digression she’d heard in a while. “It should be in the cabinet underneath the coffee machine. Why?”

                “That bartender’s trick I was talking about, it requires a blender.” Pulling it out from its place underneath the coffee machine, Levi plugged it in before wrenching the cork out of the bottle and upending it; he turned it on and then back off again almost immediately before using a funnel to return the wine to the bottle. “Six seconds in a blender and swill tastes like fine vintage,” he explained at the sight of the strange look she was giving him. “Something about the chemical makeup of red wine.”

                Maybe she could use that trick sometime in the future on her superiors. “Dinner is ready; have a seat.” Levi did as he was told and sat down at the kitchen table; Mikasa set a steaming bowl down in front of him before taking her own seat at the other end of the table and carefully gauged his reaction as he glanced down at the contents of the dish. The broth was hot and clear, russet-brown in color with chunks of beef potatoes carrots and peas; to a Human the scent rising off of it would have been mouthwatering, but to a Ghoul it was stomach churning.

                “It looks delicious,” he lied, “and smells even better” Levi quickly took a sip of wine and tried to force himself to remain relaxed and composed. This, eating Human food in public to maintain his image, was always the worst part but he couldn’t afford not to play the role especially in front of her; someone who, presumably, knew all the signs to look for. He didn’t want his game being cut short, didn’t want the chance to watch the light and color go out of the boy’s teal eyes to slip through his fingers so easily. “Eren is certainly lucky that he has you to cook for him.”

                “It’s nice of you to say that,” Mikasa replied. “Do you ever cook for yourself? I can only imagine that it’s fairly hard to find the time, being a senior at university.”

                Cooking was pointless; raw meat was more nutritious. “Well, I’m not _completely_ hopeless when it comes to a kitchen  but in that regard I am the stereo-typical man; any recipe that requires more than four ingredients with instructions that go beyond the absolute basics…” he trailed off with a shrug, bringing a spoonful of stew to his lips and pretending to chew before forcing himself to swallow. “Your home is beautiful and very clean considering that a 14 year old boy has free reign of it more often than not.”

                “You wouldn’t say that if you went upstairs and saw his room,” she replied. “Tell me about my brother. What do you think of him?”

                “He’s a brat, but I mean that in the best way possible.” He said. “Eren is sweet, and cute, and once he’s older I’ve no doubt he will be handsome but he’s too young for that now. I haven’t known him for long enough to have any right to say that I’m in love with him, but I do have confidence that that could happen in the future. For now he’s still a kid, and with the world the way it is he needs protecting.”

                “We both agree on that much, Levi.  But the real question is, are you capable of protecting him while I’m not around?”

                “I may be a civilian without CCG training but I can still kick ass and I’ve encountered Ghouls before. I can hold them off for long enough to run the hell away.” He told her. “Though I have to say, I’m surprised you’ve assured yourself that I myself aren’t going to try and eat him so quickly.”

                “I’ve heard that it’s possible for a Ghoul to eat without immediately throwing up, but I’ve never seen it; you’ve passed my preliminary test.” Mikasa told him. “Of course, I’m still going to be keeping a very close eye on you.”

                “Of course.”

                “There are some rules that I expect you to follow.”

                “Understandable.”

                “You’ll have him back by curfew especially on school nights and he’s not to stay over with you anywhere unless I know ahead of time or something comes up and it has to be arranged, and either way I’m to be informed.”

                “Copy that.”

                “No letting him drink!”

                “He’s cute but not cute enough to make me provide alcohol to a minor; that’s a felony.”

                “When he says stop, you stop!”

                “Of course, that’s assuming we start.”

                “And you’re not to do anything with him until he’s ready and _at least_ 15!”

                At this the raven raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t the legal age of consent technically 17?”

                “I’m willing to overlook that as long as you’re treating him the way you should be.”

                “And if you find out that I’m not, just for the sake of knowing what the consequences are to be?”

                Mikasa regarded him with a very straight face before calmly stating “I’ll feed you to a Ghoul.”

                He did his best to pale at that but given the already present pallor of his skin it didn’t have as much of an affect as he would have preferred it to. “I-I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.” Dinner couldn’t end quickly enough for him, but just as he was at the sink helping to clean up by doing the dishes-his host had protested but he’d made a point of ignoring her completely-the front door flew open and the brunet came tearing into the kitchen, promptly attaching himself to the raven’s waist. “Oi brat, I thought you weren’t supposed to be home tonight.”

                “He isn’t,” his sister answered, the look on her face demanding answers from her brother.

                “We finished studying for our last final early, so I came back to make sure my sister wasn’t trying to steal my boyfriend away.” He explained, releasing the other from his clutches and stepping back slightly. “You’re getting let out on break tomorrow too, right?”

                “I’ve been on break, brat; they let Uni out two days ago.”

                “Agh, not fair! _And_ you get a longer break?”

                “Count your blessings while you can dipshit, our finals are hell.” Levi told him, ruffling the other’s hair and watching in amusement as he puffed up in annoyance like an angered cat. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll pick you up from school tomorrow and we’ll head to the Christmas festival. I think I’ve been cleared for duty?” he looked over at Mikasa for affirmation and received a nod.

                “You can go.”

                “ _Yes!!!_ Class gets out at noon so try and get there around that time if you can ok?”

                “I’ll do my best, brat. No, I’ve hung around for long enough and I’m sure you know where these go better than I do,” he pushed the teetering pile of dishes into Eren’s hands, “I’ll be heading back now. Thanks for having me over and for the food; it was delicious. Keep the wine.” Bidding a quick farewell to the both of them, he hurried out of the door and down the street. The sooner he could get home the better. No one was on the street at that time of night, so despite not having his mask with him Levi left the streets to travel over the roof tops and make better time. He got across town in just over ten minutes, slipping in through his apartment door and making a bee-line for the bathroom after grabbing a water bottle from the fridge. Flicking on the light switch and lifting the lid of the toilet, Levi crouched down in front of it and rammed two fingers down his throat forcing his stomach to purge itself into the clear water in the bowl. Over and over again until his eyes were watering and his throat was burning and he was absolutely sure that none of the awful mess was left in his body to affect his health. He couldn’t afford to lose any of his strength because of something as trivial as ingesting human food. “Disgusting.” He muttered, flushing the toilet and closing the lid again before getting to his feet and walking over to the sink. He ran the water, picking up his toothbrush and squeezing out the appropriate amount of tooth paste before attacking his already perfectly white teeth in an effort to remove the taste from his mouth. He brushed until his gums bled and then just stared at himself in the mirror, watching tiny droplets of water tracing slowly down his face and dripping from his chin into the basin below. It wasn’t long before his thoughts began to wander, going almost immediately to his newest toy. How delectable the tortured sounds would be when he wrenched them from his pink lips, how thrilling it would feel to see the betrayal in those enormous eyes before they went blank, how sweet he’d taste when he was through with all his fun and started to eat. Turning off the bathroom light, Levi made his way to his bedroom and laid down with his arms behind his head staring up at the ceiling. _School gets out at 12 tomorrow, does it brat? Don’t you worry, I’ll make sure to be there right on time._


	5. The Christmas Festival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know i haven't updated this in a while and i'm really sorry about that but with all of the other stories that i'm working on this one kinda got away from me. I'll do my best to fix that of course, and the good news is i now have the entire plot for this completely finished; now i just have to write it and post it.
> 
> As always enjoy and comment.

                “So you actually went on that date with him?”

                “I told you that already; you asked me the same question last night.”

                “And you’re going out with him again today? You mean to tell me that your overprotective sister actually approved a 23 year old college senior as your boyfriend?”

                “ _Armin!”_ Eren huffed, slamming the door of his locker shut to glare at his friend. “ _Stop!”_

                “Sorry,” the blonde apologized sheepishly, hefting his bag over one shoulder as they started through the halls towards the entrance.

                “To answer your question because you’re obviously _so_ desperate to know, yes. And she didn’t just approve him, it seemed like she liked him.” The brunet informed his friend as they reached the school doors. “And he’s picking me up so we can go to the Chirstmas festival, so I’ll talk to you later.” Bidding his friend farewell he set up on top of the stairs to wait, scanning the crowds. It wasn’t long before he spotted him as, despite his short stature, he was unmistakable; rather than the hoodie he’d been wearing the night before he’d opted for something much warmer today in light of all of the snow which had accumulated on the ground overnight; a long leather trench coat worn open over a grey sweater, the black jeans that he adored and a pair of knee high steel toed boots. Secured around his neck was a flannel scarf and on his face was his usual scowl. The brunet, now grinning stupidly, made a beehive straight for him and a few minutes later the raven was glaring up at him.

                “Why are you so God damn tall, brat?” he demanded. “Like a fucking giant; gonna kill someone with those Titan-ass feet of yours!”

                “I missed you too, Levi.” Eren replied with a grin.

                “You saw me 12 hours ago.”

                “But I missed you!”

                The raven’s long suffering sight reminded him of his best friend. “Getting attached to me already are we?”

                “It’s easy when it’s you.”

                He blushed and looked away, feeling more affected by those words than he ever wanted to be. “Stupid brat,” he grumbled, not daring to meet those shinning beryl orbs. “Shall we be off, then, or would you like to show me around to all of your friends?”

                “Well, the only person I really hang out with who is my own age is Armin and he’s already seen me with you at the café.” He told him as they started walking together down the street. “Most of my friends are actually the members of my sister’s team, so maybe when all of the activity with that crazy Ghoul-Heichou, they call him-calms down you can meet them.”

                “Maybe.” Levi didn’t count on it.

                Shivering slightly in the cold wind, Eren pulled his coat closer around himself and rubbed his ungloved hands together in an effort to get his fingers warm. “Where is the Christmas festival anyway?”

                “The 11th ward, near the river,” he replied, pulling off his own gloves and tossing them at the other. “Put them on.”

                “What?”

                “Gloves! You’re aware of how they work, yes?”

                “I…yes, but…don’t you want them?”

                “I’ve got pockets, brat. _Put them on!”_ At the sound of his voice, sharpened by impatience, his face noticeably fell. “Sorry for snapping, brat, but having you question the validity of every damn thing I say gets old real fast.”

                His green eyes dropped to the sidewalk and he stopped walking. “I’m sorry, I just…I do it because I’m afraid. Of doing something wrong and having you walk away; of you deciding I’m not worth the trouble because I’m too much of a kid.” Eren admitted shakily, fighting to prevent his voice from trembling but failing at it miserably. “It’s just…I really like you and, though I know we’ve only just met…I feel like I was missing something and when you’re with me…”

                Turning around, the raven walked back to where the brunet was standing and gently but firmly forced his hands into the warm confines of the noticeably small gloves. “I’m not going to walk away because you’re ‘too much of a kid’, but I might if you keep trying to be the adult that we both know you’re not. Relationships like this are built on truths, right? So stop trying to hide your faults, you idiot.”

                Eren was smiling again, a look that Levi couldn’t help but think fit his face better than dejection. “You’re right. I’m sorry. We’ll both be honest and ourselves from this point forwards. I promise.”

                “I promise too.” The other replied, ignoring the bitter taste of the lie on his tongue. “But good God brat, your hands are the size of dinner plates! My gloves barely go down past your fingers!”

                Looking down and wiggling his fingers he discovered this to be quite true; the warm wool fabric completely covered his fingers but fell short at covering his entire hand. “Better than nothing, right?”

                “We’re buying you new gloves on the way down there and don’t want to hear a damn thing about it, you got that brat?”

                “Yes, Sir!”

 

                It was almost one before they finally reached the festival, Eren now wearing a pair of white knitted gloves to match his hat and scarf and Levi back in his own pair. A number of stalls lined the streets that had been cordoned off for the event, selling everything from carved wooden nick naks to hand made Christmas decorations to various tooth-rottingly sweet confections and fake snow surrounded them on all sides to mask the real snow which had turned black from the amount of oil it had already absorbed off of the pavement of the road. The top of an enormous Christmas tree rose above it all, fully decorated by in the middle of the day unlit. At the sight of it Eren’s eyes went even wider than they’d been before.

                “We’re going to stay for the lighting of the Christmas tree, aren’t we?” he demanded excitedly. “Please, can we?”

                Levi sighed and shook his head. “Whatever you want, Eren. It’s almost Christmas, after all.” It was also cold as all ever living fuck but if this was what the brat wanted he’d let him have it. “It starts to get dark at around 6, so they should have it lit by 6:30 but we’ll worry about that later. For now we should concern ourselves with getting you fed; I take it they don’t supply lunch to students during finals?”

                Eren shook his head. “No, they don’t bother on half days. But it’s not a problem, I’m not hungry right now.” It was at precisely that moment where his stomach gave a loud growl.

                “Hmm, sounds like someone disagrees with you,” he noted wryly. “Come along, brat.” The brunet looked someone embarrassed by his stomachs sudden outburst but trotted along in the elder’s wake regardless, head on a continuous swivel as he gawked wide eyed at everything around them. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been to any sort of festival; he wasn’t old enough to go himself, Armin wasn’t much of one for crowds and his sister was always so busy with her job that she was almost never home for longer than an hour or two. To say the least, he was grateful that the striking college senior hadn’t chosen to simply brush him off as just another stupid teen or freaky stalker. He sped up, pulling up beside the other and grabbing his hand without hesitation despite the fact that doing so made his face flare red again. Levi looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. “You need something?”

                The brunet shook his head. “No, I just…wanted to.”

                _So damn innocent. This little shit is making this all too easy!_ But what did one do in this situation? How was it that you properly reacted beyond allowing the brat attached to you to remain holding your hand? “How old are you again? 14? Most people don’t still have that ‘child-like innocence’ bullshit hanging around them by that age.”

                Teal eyes focused on the cracked pavement at their feet as the blush deepened in color. “W-Well, I don’t it’s just…this is my first relationship, remember? So…it’s all sort of new to me and I don’t know what I’m doing.”

                “You’re doing fine,” he assured him gently. “So, brat, where do you want to eat?”

                “Where do you want to go, Levi?”

                _The nearest deserted alleyway._ “No, Eren, you choose. After this long at Uni I’ll eat anything.”

                They eventually ended up in a pancake house; it was crowded inside and warm and the air smelled of cinnamon and maple syrup. An unnaturally blonde, unnaturally happy waitress with a gigantic wad of pink bubblegum jammed in her mouth greeted them with an overly chirpy voice and lead them to a cracked leather booth. Eren slid into one end and Levi into the other and both picked up their menus to peruse at their leisure. “What are you going to get?”

                “Coffee.”

                “But…no food? Aren’t you hungry?”

                “I got dragged to breakfast this morning with some of my shitty excuses for friends. I’m still good from that,” he replied smoothly. “Order what you want, Eren; I’m paying for it and I don’t want to hear a word.”

                “I’ve already learned first-hand arguing with you is a waste of time,” Eren told him, returning his eyes to his menu. “Should I get the caramel bon bon waffles or the gingerbread pancakes?”

                “Get both if you want. Just be sure to explain to your sister that it’s not my fault your teeth started to fall out.” When the waitress returned they placed their order-a pot of coffee for Levi and a platter of four ginger bread pancakes, two scrambled eggs and two sausage links for Eren-and settled into meaningless banter-conversation about the weather and how their finals went and what they were planning to do with the rest of their break from their respective schooling-until their food came. “Those pancakes are the size of pot holes! You actually intend to stuff all of that into your stomach?” Eren, who had been in the process of shoving a forkful of steaming pancake dripping with syrup into his face, stopped and stared at him for a moment before nodding and proceeding to swallow without chewing. “It’s a good thing I know the Heimlich.”

                “I’m not going to choke,” Eren informed him matter of factly as he emptied a bottle of ketchup on top of his eggs and sausage. “I do this all the time.”       

                “Somehow I’m not surprised.” Levi took a small sip of his steaming coffee, eyes still firmly riveted on his companion; watching how his cheeks puffed out like a chipmunks and his throat bob as he swallowed. The plate was cleared in what had to be record speed; the raven demanded that the brunet go to the bathroom to wash his hands of the sticky syrup while he took care of paying and the pair regrouped outside. “So, now what?”

                “Well, I have a list of people who I need to Christmas shop for, so if you don’t mind…I brought my own money?”

                “Lead the way.” They spent the next few hours scouring the booths for all they had to offer, Eren taking care to select only the items he found to be the best for the respective parties-whoever they were-that would be receiving them.

                “Which one do you like the best?” Eren asked him suddenly as he stared at a number of charm necklaces dangling from hooks.

                “Why?”

                “Because I want to know; if you could get one of these for a present which one would you like the best?”

                “I don’t celebrate Christmas brat. I don’t like that holiday and I never have.”

                The teal orbs turned on him, blow wide as his expression formed into one of shock. “You don’t celebrate Christmas? Don’t _like_ Christmas? Why!?”

                “Because it’s the butt hole of winter? Because it’s the supposed birth day of a God I don’t believe in? Because it’s _my_ birthday, and God knows I’m a horrible human being. All in all, not much to celebrate.”

                “Oh…” Eren’s expression fell for a moment before he reached up and removed one particular necklace-a silver chain hung with a charm in the shape of a number of black and silver intertwining rings-from its hook. “I’d like this one, please.” He paid for everything he’d bought and then the pair were walking again; darkness was starting to fall now. “Why do you think you’re a horrible person, Levi?”

                “A lot of reasons.”

                “Well, I don’t agree with you.” The boy replied stubbornly. “I love you and I think you’re a beautiful person and I don’t want you to change in any way. Not for me and not for anyone else. You said earlier that truth is one thing relationships like this are built on? So is acceptance.”

                “Eren, please-.”

                “If you’d have told me that you didn’t celebrate Christmas I wouldn’t have made you go to this festival! Let’s go; we can go do something else. Something that you’re more interested in.”

                Great, this was the last thing he wanted to deal with: the brat getting panicked again. “What I’m interested in is making you happy, shit head. Now stop blathering and hurry up, they’re about to light the tree!”

                “Oh, I almost forgot about the lighting! Let’s go, we need to get a good spot!” Conversation entirely forgotten in the wake of his sudden excitement, Eren took off running down the streets back towards the enormous tree.

                “Oi, brat! Slow the hell down!” Levi was forced to run after him or loose the brunet in the crowd, and by the time he caught up with him again in front of the tree amidst a crush of other people waiting to see it lit the boy was panting. “All of this ruckus over some shitty pine tree.” He muttered under his breath a slip second before one of Eren’s arms snaked tightly around his neck and pulled him in closer.

                “Look!” He squealed, pointing up at the gigantic tree. Lights, woven in between the enormous branches, were slowly blinking to life the multi-colored lights sparkling off the ornate shapes of the ornaments hanging from them. Flaring on in patterns and swirls, all the way up to the top of the tree where the star situated at its pinnacle flared a brilliant gold. “It’s beautiful isn’t it!”

                “Yeah,” he drawled. “Breath taking.”

                “You don’t seem to mean that, Levi.” He laughed when the raven’s only response was a heavy sigh. Suddenly, the phone rang shrilly in his back pocket. “Oh! Your ass is ringing.”

                “Cute, brat.” He grumbled, pulling out the phone and glancing at the number. “I’ve got to take this.” Slipping away a bit into the crowd before answering, he raised it to his ear. “So it’s ready, finally? That took a bit longer than expected.” Her reply over the line was immediate and much too loud, making him wince as a headache began to threaten. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll be over in a few hours. At the moment I’m a bit…busy. Put the closed sign up if you want, then, you know it’s not going to stop me!” Ending the call as quickly as possible and shoving his cell phone back into his back pocket Levi made his way through the crowd to Eren’s side again and wound his arms around his waist to pull him into an embrace from behind. “Sorry, but I’ve got an important errand to run.”

                “We need to go?”

                “Well, you could stay if you really wanted to,” he told him, “but with all of the Ghoul shit lately it’s dangerous on the streets alone, especially at night, and I think your sister would appreciate that I chaperone you home.”

                Eren sighed, sending one final glance back at the blazing tree. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. It’s about time to be heading back anyway.” They left the festival grounds together, once again hand in hand at Eren’s insistence, and headed down the darkened roads between the pools of light cast onto the ground by street lamps. Even with Levi’s presence beside him the brunet couldn’t help himself from nervously flicking his eyes from shadow to shadow as he shrank closer to the warm body beside him at even the slightest perceived chance of something lurking there; the raven rubbed soothing circles into the top of his hand all the while, internally howling with laughter at the knowledge that the boy was only pressing himself closer to the thing he was so terrified of. Finally, on the steps up to his apartment, Eren allowed himself to relax and let go of Levi’s hand. “Thanks.”

                “Not a problem, brat.”

                “I had a lot of fun tonight. And I got a lot of my big shopping done so…that leaves me almost completely free all break.” He smiled shyly and shifted in place. “I think I’ve said it once or twice already, but I enjoy being with you. A lot. So…”

                “We’ll hang out as much as you want provided that my job allows; I actually managed to get a break without homework this year.” Levi told him as he descended the stairs back to the street. “I’ve got to head out so I can make it to pick up my package before the store closes. I’ll see you later, Eren.”

                “Be safe, Levi.” He called after him, watching as the other man set off walking down the block. Only once he’d disappeared completely into the night’s shadows did Eren turn and enter his apartment.


	6. New Threat

 

                The street light on the curb just outside of the alley way hadn’t been working properly for years, the bulb held within flickering on and off repeatedly in a painfully quick succession that lead him to squint and grimace as he ducked into the space between the two buildings which held Hanji’s mask shop. The door he’d kicked off its hinges had since been repaired, likely by Moblit, and though the closing sign hung once again in the window the front door was unlocked so he let himself inside. The mask maker was waiting for him this time, sitting up behind her desk with the box containing his new mask in front of her as she fiddled with a cell phone.

                “Care to tell me what took so long? I thought you said you’d have it finished by the time I was done with finals.”

                Her eyes swiveled up to look at him, the light cast by the screen reflecting off of her glasses in the darkness. “Sorry Shorty, but I know how OCD you can be about change-almost as bad as you are about cleaning-so I thought it would be better if I waited until the next shipment of white lacquer came in to finish it.” Setting the device aside Hanji excitedly pushed the box towards him. “Open it; try it on. Does it fit the way the other one did, or would you like some adjustments?”

                “God damn it, I already spent an entire day with an overly excitable brat! I don’t need you acting like one too!” He grumbled as he proceeded to open the box, sifting through the tissue paper lining to pull out the mask inside. The design was almost identical to the one that he’d been wearing before, only this time the eyes were outlined in black and the ears were slightly shorter. Sliding it on over his face Levi tied the silk ribbons behind his head; the new mask smelled like newly cut wood and fresh paint and fit to a degree that was more than good enough. Pulling it off again, he replaced it in the box and pulled out his wallet. “It’ll do; charge it to this, I don’t give a shit about the price.”

                “You seem more angry and upset than you usually are, Shorty. What happened?” she asked, taking the credit card that Levi all but tossed at her face. “And you smell like a Human; don’t tell me you’ve been hunting without a mask!”

                “Not hunting, no. Just having a bit of…fun.” He replied and refused to say more. “Is that all.”

                “In regards to the mask, yes.”

                Here we go again; Levi could practically sense the topic creeping up on them. “Hanji, I swear to God-!”

                “For your own sake, and for our sake because you’re our friend and we don’t want to lose you as hard as that may be for you to believe, stop. Whatever you’re doing, _stop._ ” He tried to open his mouth to speak again but she plowed onwards and stopped him. “I know that you think you’re strong, and you are. I know that you think you can handle yourself, and you can. I know that you think you aren’t a child and you’re not. But you’re not immortal! You may not be as physically weak as a Human, but you can’t keep doing this Levi! The CCG are stronger than us, if not in true strength then in numbers. You’ll be overwhelmed eventually, and they won’t show you any mercy!”

                “I don’t plan on survival, I plan on revenge. I’ll wade into their ranks up to my neck if that’s what it takes to get to Dok, the bastard that murdered my family! If I die, as long as I kill him first, I don’t give a shit because _nothing else matters!_ All of you are too damn blind to see that!” Ripping the box out of her grasp as she clung to it in an effort to keep him there and deaf to her continued protestation against his chosen path, a grumbling Levi stormed out once again into the night and headed back towards home. How it grated on his nerves, drove him beyond mad, to constantly have them ridicule his choices and try to turn him onto what they deemed to be a ‘correct’ and ‘acceptable’ path. Like they knew better. Like they understood. They didn’t, how could they? They didn’t know what he’d been through; couldn’t relate! So how dare they assume to. Levi would have to admit that Erwin had been right, in the end, about his original desperate plan to gain power quickly by consuming other ghouls in the pursuit of exchanging his kagune for a kakuja-in the end he’d barely been spared from throwing himself off the edge of the cliff into madness-but this was a much better plan.  A much more sound plan. Why couldn’t they just accept his choices? Why did they always have to try and press their damn charity on him, to ‘save him from himself’. He was sick and tired of it, and simply wouldn’t stand for it anymore. And if he had to cut off all ties with every last one of them in order to insure he never had to hear another word of that ‘humans are our friends, we can work this all out if we try’ bullshit then so be it!

 

                “Still no sign of him?”

                Jean looked up from the magazine he’d been idly perusing to find his partner standing in the doorway of their office with a try of coffee and pastries in her hands. “Him?”

                “Heichou, Jean! Pull your head out of your ass!” Striding purposefully across the room and setting a cup of coffee and a powdered doughnut in front of him, Mikasa yanked the magazine sharply off the table. “Not only is pulling this shit on the job highly unprofessional, magazines full of nothing but butts and boobs have been scientifically proven to lower your IQ by up to 85%. Not,” she smirked, dropping it back onto his head, “that that would be obvious in you.”

                “Oi!” He grumbled back, closing the magazine and putting it away in the top drawer of his desk before she could get it in her head to toss it in the nearest trash can. “It’s just a swim suit magazine, Mikasa. You go on about it like I’m looking at porn!”

                “If I were to find that in my brother’s bed room I’d be furious.” More like mortified, considering it would be mostly naked men instead of mostly naked woman considering it was Eren.

                “Uh huh; no wonder he calls you an overbearing mother hen.” She kicked his chair lightly as she went to sit down at her own desk. “And to answer your question, no. There hasn’t been a single peep out of Heichou since our last run in with him; probably due to the mess you made of his mask. He’s not one of the stupid ones, he’s well aware of how easily it would be for us to hunt him down like the dog he is if we knew what his face looks like.”

                “That will probably change soon enough; there are a lot of mask makers in this city. He’ll get a new one.” Though the fact that it had taken this long for him to get one was relatively concerning. “Even without him raising cane I’m sure the streets are far from quiet.”

                “You’ve got that right,” he sighed, picking up a file and beginning to shuffle through the papers inside of it. “There’s been a bunch of reports lately about a group of at least semi-organized Ghouls calling themselves ‘Kyojin’. For the most part they hang around the 11th and 13th wards but recently they’ve been branching out and the 4th and 6th wards have been seeing a lot of activity. Two separate groups, it looks like, of Kyojin members lead by a pair of Ghouls we’re calling Lion and Titan.”

                 “How bad has it been? What have they done?”

                “Well, it’s nearly on Heichou’s level of destruction. Only difference being they’re actually eating most of what they kill. Why?”

                “Our apartment is in the 4th ward.” She dialed a number Jean didn’t recognize and waited patiently while the phone on the other end rang. “Levi. Sorry to bother you, but…if you’re not busy tonight is it possible that my brother could stay over with you? I know that it’s short notice, and that it’s Christmas eve, but I’ve just gotten some information that there’s been a lot of activity in the ward where we live and I don’t like the thought of him being home alone. Normally I’d send him to stay with his friend Armin, but they’re out of town for the holidays and…yes. Thank you, really! And again I’m sorry about this. Bye.” Hanging up the phone again and setting it aside, she sighed. “At least I know Eren will be alright for the night. Unless they decide to attack the 8th ward too.”

                “Whose Levi?” was that jealousy she heard? “Boyfriend?”

                It was! Jean was jealous? Despite the lecture she’d just given him about being unprofessional Mikasa couldn’t miss the chance to mess with him a bit. “Yes, he is.” The look on his face when she said it was priceless, but before he could recover enough to speak she finished with “ _EREN’S_ boyfriend.”

                “Eren’s…?” Jean repeated stupidly, still somewhat off balance. “He’s gay?”

                “Yeah, I was surprised too when I first found out to be completely honest with you. But it doesn’t make a difference to me who he likes or what he’s into, he’s still my brother.”

                “With how protective of Eren I know you are this must be one hell of a guy if you’re not just ok with him dating your brother, but you’re ok with your brother sleeping over at his house.”

                “Levi…isn’t too bad. He’s law abiding, at least as far as I’m aware. Polite, if a bit crude. Hard working. And Eren absolutely adores him if the 3 and a half hour long phone call I got about their date to the Christmas festival four days ago is anything to go by.”

                “You find no problem with him what so ever?” he didn’t sound like he believed it.

                “Well, he’s a little older than I’d prefer. But we’ve laid ground rules and he’s followed them. So far.”

                “Older meaning what?”

                “A senior.”

                “In highschool?”

                “In college.”

                “Oh.” His amber eyes widened slightly. “Yeah, that _is_ older. You’re actually ok with a twenty-something dating your 14 year old brother?”

                “Like I said, we laid some ground rules and if he deviates from them in the slightest I fully intend to kick his ass; he’s well aware of this.” She told him, taking a bite of her own doughnut while Jean had yet to touch the one in front of him. “I think it’s going to be good for Eren to have an older male role model in his life, even if it’s as a lover. Especially considering that his father was killed when he was so little. Levi might even be able to convince him to go to college like he did instead of joining the CCG like me. I don’t want my brother put in danger.”

                “How did he meet him?”

                “In a café, apparently.”

                “A stranger? You’re sure he’s not a Ghoul himself?”

                “It’s impossible to be completely sure, but 95% sure he’s human yes.” Mikasa said slowly. “Besides, if Levi were a Ghoul he’d probably have eaten my brother by now. He’s had enough chances.”

                “Yeah,” Jean agreed after a moment, turning back to his work with his cup of coffee in hand. “You’re probably right.


	7. Not So Silent Night

Levi should have known that knocking on the door of an apartment which surly contained an extremely excited brat was a bad idea; sadly he didn’t consider that until _after_ he’d already made his presence known. The moment that the door opened a brunet blur flew out, slamming into his chest and wrapping his legs around his waist and his arms around his neck very nearly knocking them both over the railing and three stories down to the sidewalk below.

                “ _LEVVVVI!!!!!”_ Half a whine and half a squeal which was almost completely smothered in the skin of his neck. “ _BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT EVER!_ ”

                “Hello brat,” he couldn’t keep the small smirk off his face as Eren disentangled himself and dropped onto his feet. “You’re packed, I take it?”

                “Yeah, Mikasa called me right after she called you.” He replied, darting back through the front door to grab an overnight bag and sling it over one arm. “I know I shouldn’t be happy about a bunch of Ghouls killing people, especially so close to home, but if it means I get to stay with you for Christmas-even if you don’t celebrate it-then I’m ok with it. And I never thought Mikasa overprotective streak would have its benefits but it looks like I was wrong about that as well.”

                “Yeah, it does.” He replied, closing the door behind Eren as the brunet went bouncing down the landing towards the stairs. “I was definitely surprised to get a call at 6 in the evening from her asking if I could have you sleep over.”

                “Mmm. You don’t mind, do you?”

                “You’re better than half of the people I usually hang out with because you don’t question my life choices. Mind you they’ve also yet to become aware that I’m dating a 14 year old.” He grumbled as they reached the bottom of the stairs. “Have you eaten dinner yet?”

                “No, not yet. I sort of got distracted from heating up left overs.”

                Of course he had. “Well, we’ll drop your stuff off at my apartment and then run out to get some food. Sound alright?”

                “Yeah, that’s perfect.” Falling into step beside Levi, Eren had to all but bend himself in half in order to rest his head on the raven’s shoulder. “I’m fine with anything if it means I get to spend the night with you.”

                “We’re not doing anything so pull your head out of the gutter; I’ve been threatened with bodily harm if I so much as French kiss you too aggressively before you turn 15.”

                “Will we at least sleep together?”

                “Nope; you’ll be in the bed and I’ll be on the couch. Blame your sister’s rules.”

                “Can I sleep over on my birthday then?”

                “If that’s what you want as your damn present, go the fuck ahead; feel free to show up at my door.” _Not that you’ll live to see your 15 th birthday._ This seemed to appease the taller brunet, as he seemed content to walk silently beside him after that and they reached Levi’s apartment fifteen minutes later. Taking the key from its place secured underneath the mat, Levi unlocked his door and ushered the boy inside in front of it. “Take your shoes off at the door if you don’t mind, brat. You can set your bag down wherever.” Eren did as he was told, kicking off his beaten pair of sneakers and setting his bag down just inside the door as he looked around with curiosity shinning in his eyes. All of the lights were off submerging the interior in darkness, but even so he could tell that Levi’s apartment was extremely clean; the floors were wood and slightly scuffed, the walls painted in generic white wash without so much as a single picture frame hanging on them. The only thing contained in the little foyer was a floor mat, a number of neatly arranged shoes, an umbrella stand, and a closet. In only his socks, Eren stepped up into the hallway and followed on the raven’s heels as he went into the kitchen; here he found a square shaped kitchen table, a small island, a micro wave, a stove, and a pristine chrome fridge carefully cleaned of all fingerprints. “Make yourself comfortable; we’ll head out in a few minutes.”

                “Take your time.” Curious to see the rest of the apartment, Eren continued in his exploration of the layout and soon found his way into what he assumed was Levi’s bedroom. Again fairly generic in what one would expect from an apartment, almost as if the raven had purposefully done everything he could not the make the apartment where he lived a home in any personal sense. The walls, again, were bare and white. The closet door, also white, was tightly closed. The floor, unlike his own room, was carpeted and completely clean without even so much as a single stray article of clothing cast about; the only thing even slightly out of place in the room was the green Trost U hoodie which had been draped over the chair set in front of a desk littered with a controlled chaos of papers and text books and a small LED desk lamp. The bed was of fairly good size, the sheets white cotton and the comforter patterned in grey. The only thing that hinted at the raven’s life before he’d known him was a tiny standing picture frame set up on the bed side table and this, of course, immediately caught his eyes. He walked over to examine it more closely, picking it up off the table top and holding it in his hands. The frame was fairly modest and crafted from wood which was darkly stained and appeared to be slightly charred. The glass covering it also appeared to have been damaged by extreme heat, shot through with millions of tiny prismatic spider cracks which distorted the image beneath it and forced Eren to squint to see it clearly. After a moment or two of staring intently down at it he was at last able to make out what he was looking at; in the picture were three people, two of which-a tall blonde man and a short red headed woman with pig tails and enormous green eyes-were unfamiliar to him and the third, smiling widely and looking more amused than he’d ever seen him and almost innocent in a way he hadn’t previously thought possible…was that really Levi? _This must have been taken quite a few years ago; he looks so young._ Eren thought. _Can’t be older than 17. And…he’s smiling. Like **really** smiling. I wonder who they are._

                “So this is where you wandered off to.” The calm, satiny voice from the doorway almost made him drop the picture in surprise as he whirled around. “Don’t look at me like you’re being scolded; make me think you’re up to something shitty brat.”

                “I was just…I know this is your room but…I was just exploring and I…” giving up on trying to produce a reasonable explanation Eren held up the picture. “Who are these people? You seem…so happy in this picture.”

                For a moment what might have been sadness flickered across his face as he took the frame, gently as if afraid that he might break it, from the other’s hands. “The closest thing I ever had to family. They’re names were Isabelle and Farland; we met as children and were inseparable from the first moment we saw each other onwards. All of us were orphans for various reasons, so we ended up living together and for a number of years we lived happy peaceful lives. Then, six years ago when we were 17, our house caught fire on Christmas Eve and burned to the ground with both of them inside; this photograph was the only thing that I managed to salvage from the wreckage.”

                Having lost his own family, though through admittedly different circumstances, Eren could relate to the pain the raven must have felt and still be feeling. Could sympathize. More so than he honestly would have liked to have been able to, but no one could choose what happened to them; even to good people, life was cruel. “So that’s the real reason that you don’t celebrate Christmas.”

                “Yeah,” Levi replied with a sigh, setting the picture frame back in its place. “It is.” Silence for a while, the raven just standing there not quite sure what to do now that the mood had taken a decided nose dive as Eren, sitting on the edge of his bed, tried and failed to hide a pout at the prospect of the not so merry Christmas which lay ahead. “But maybe now I have a new reason too. Celebrate, I mean.”

                “What do you mean?” the brunet asked, blinking up at him curiously.

                The elder shrugged. “Well, I have my lovely boyfriend over to spend the night with me don’t I?” he smirked when the brat blushed so red he invented a new shade. “So what do you say to going shopping after dinner. There’s still some time to deck the halls.” The next thing he knew he almost wound up tackled to the bed as Eren threw his arms around him for the second time that night. _What am I going to do with this brat? Keep acting like this and I’ll start to get attached and we can’t be having that._ But there was something so comforting about the brunet’s warmth and scent that even against his better judgement Levi couldn’t bear to push him off. “Now don’t go getting too excited; if you don’t let go of me we won’t be going anywhere.”

                “R-right! Sorry Levi!” Eren immediately released him and stepped back. “So, where are we going to go eat?”

                “Well, it’s a holiday so let’s go somewhere nice. You eat sushi, brat?”

                The brunet rolled his eyes. “My sister is Japanese, Levi.” Apparently that was supposedly to amount to an answer. “Which Sushi place did you have in mind?”

                “Garrison Izakaya; it’s right down the street. Ready to go?”

                “Yes!” Leaping to his feet Eren dashed excitedly out of the room to retrieve his shoes; Levi, at a much calmer pace, followed him out and locked the front door behind him. “I’ve never been to this place; is it good?”

                “I’ve never been there either.”

                “Oh, so a first time for both of us then.”

                “Yeah.” Digging his hands as far into his pockets as they would go, Levi followed close behind the brat as they headed out onto the streets, all of his senses hyper aware of the possible presence of any other Ghouls. No one, whether he knew them or not, was going to be coming anywhere near _his_ toy. Levi was one of the most powerful Ghouls in the city and he did not like sharing; anyone who tried to take what he considered to belong to him would suffer for their transgressions. Eren practically skipped along ahead of him, entirely unaware of his boyfriend’s predatory stare. “Turn here, dip shit.” He called out as the teen nearly blew passed the entrance; pulling to a sharp stop Eren turned around and hurried back to him and the pair went inside.

                Inside the restaurant was dimly lit, the walls painted in black with a design of an Edo Period city carefully etched onto them in white. Numerous accents of potted bamboo were scattered about the vicinity, and a large gold fish pond stood beside the check out. A waiter dressed in a full black uniform greeted them at the door and escorted them to a booth where the pair sat down.

                “Keep ogling everything and your face will freeze like that.” Levi grumbled, having caught sight of Eren’s wide eyed stare as he picked up the menu. “Stop staring at everything and try and figure out what you want; there’s probably not much left of the decorations by now and we don’t want to risk the stores running out.”

                “I can’t even pronounce half of this.” Eren groused, his nose crinkling up adorably as he tried and mostly failed at reading the menu. “What even is Ochanomizu?”

                “A district of Tokyo; that says Ochazuke.” Levi informed him with a snort. “It’s tea and rice, at least according to the menu. You’ll probably be more into Kastudon.”

                “That would depend on what Katsudon is.”

                “Supposedly it’s a popular dish; cutlets of fried pork and eggs over rice.”

                Eren pulled the wooden chopsticks out of the paper sheathe beside his cup, broke them apart and fiddled with them for a while before nodding. “Yeah, you’re right. That sounds like something I’d like. What are you having.”

                “Probably the Black Dragon Roll.” Levi replied, closing his menu and setting it down on the table. The waiter came back not long after that and took their order before vanishing again. “So tell me, brat, what do you want me to get you for Christmas? I didn’t exactly plan on celebrating it so…”

                Eren just smiled in response. “I don’t want anything; I’ve already gotten everything I want. Nothing that can be wrapped and up under a tree could ever compare to what you’ve already given me. Getting to spend the holidays with you is more than enough.”

                How incredibly adult of him to say such a thing and from the sincere expression on his face Levi could tell that he meant every word. _Murdered parents. A sister who cares about him but it almost never there. This kid is starved to death for love, and he has no idea what he’s trusting._ The more time he spent with Eren the more of himself-his past self, who he _used_ to be when he still had a margin of love for Humanity-he saw in him and the more ashamed of what he’d become he began to feel. _Stop right there! This brat is nothing more than a means to an end; in this meaningless existence all that matters is revenge!_ But in recent days, recent hours especially, he’d begun to question the validity of that belief. Something which very much disturbed him.

                “14 and going on 40 aren’t you.” He grumbled. “Take a damn picture Yeager, it’ll last longer.”

                “That’s what a lot of people say about me and I guess that, in a way, it’s sort of true.” He said slowly. “I’ve been through a lot more than most people have, especially with how young I am. It has an effect on you; you grow up a lot faster than everyone around you.”

                “Well,” Levi noted dryly as he examined the ice cubes floating in his water, “it looks like the two of us have more in common with each other than either of us would like.”

                “Yeah,” he agreed, “I guess we do.” Another silence, this one awkward and somewhat stiff, fell over the pair until their food came. Eren dug in quickly, carving into the bowl in front of him at record speed, as Levi picked at the roll in front of him with his chopsticks all the while but didn’t take a single bite.

                “You ready to head out, brat?” he asked the minute that Eren set his chopsticks aside, paying the bill with cash.

                “Levi, you barely touched your food!” He protested, indicating the shredded by uneaten Dragon Roll sitting in front of the other male. “Aren’t you hungry?”

                A shrug was given as answer. “I guess I’m not at into sushi as I thought,” Levi replied. “Now, let’s head to the nearest department store and see what they have left on their shelves.”

                That seemed to clear all thoughts of the other not eating from Eren’s mind, the heaviness of their chosen dinner conversation seeming to evaporate from his shoulders. The pair walked a few more blocks before coming to a K Mart and going inside. There were only sparse pickings left, but the pair grabbed a cast regardless and filled it with the decorations remaining.

                “They don’t have any fake trees left in green, Eren. Pink or silver?”

                “Niether!” He whined. “No fake tree cop-outs Levi! It has to be a _real_ tree!”

                Levi felt one of the muscles in his face start to twitch. “Where the _hell_ are we supposed to get a real tree at 10 at night on Christmas eve?”

                “A tree lot.”

                _Little shit._ The raven rolled his eyes. “Fine, then. Let’s buy all of this crap and then we’ll see what trees they have left on the nearest lot.” No one else was in the store at that hour and so they made it through check out in record time and exited back out into the chilly night. “The lot is on the other side of the ward; we’ll drop these off at my apartment and then we’ll head over.” Up the stairs, unlock the door, open it, drop the shit inside, close it and lock it again and then put the key back in its place.

                “Come on! Come on!” Eren practically sprinted the whole way there but they still didn’t make it in time, the gate to the lot was tightly closed by the time they got there. “It’s locked!” Eren whined like a kicked puppy, leaping up onto the chain link fence and clinging on as he stared out at the lot. There wasn’t much more than pine scraps left, really, but it still seemed to break the brunet’s heart.

                “Looks like it closed an hour ago brat,” he noted, reading the sign that hung on the fence.

                “W-Well, can we run by my apartment and take that tree?”

                “There’s no way in hell we’re going back to that ward after dark! Not with the attacks going on!”

                “But Levi! It isn’t _Christmas_ without a tree!” He was clearly distressed now, voice shooting up a number of octaves as tears threatened to spill down his face from his enormous teal eyes,

                “Don’t start mewling, brat! We _might_ still be able to get one.” This brightened him up considerably; Eren wiped his eyes and sniffled as he looked to the raven expectantly. “Some friends of mine live nearby; we’ll have to borrow something from them to help us out.” So much for breaking ties completely, but keeping the brat happy-and with him-for as long as possible was worth it he supposed. It gave him more time to plan out his fate; wouldn’t want to rush things.

                The brunet followed curiously in his wake as they left the 8th ward and headed into the 9th, weaving through streets and neighborhoods until they came to one house in particular where Levi stopped.

                “If they’re not awake that’s just too damn bad.” He muttered to himself before proceeding to pound on the door with his fist. “Oi! Petra! Oluo! One of you, open the fucking door!” A few minutes later the door opened to reveal a petite ginger haired woman who Eren assumed was Petra on the other side. “Hatchet, now! Thank you!” He demanded before she even had a chance to speak.

                “Levi, it’s 10 o’clock on Christmas eve! Why do you need an axe?”

                “The reason isn’t exactly your concern, Ral!” The raven replied sternly, pushing passed her into the house. “Oi, you just gonna stand there and freeze your balls of brat?”

                “Uh, I just…” Eren floundered, bewildered by how rude Levi could be though clearly Petra was well used to it. “M-May I come in?”

                “Of course, come one.” She told him kindly, stepping aside to let him pass and shutting the door. “Might I ask who you are?”

                “I’m-.”

                “My brat. _Now where’s the fucking axe!”_

“The garage,” a man, Eren figured that he was the one Levi had referred to as Oluo, said as he made his way down the stairs from the upper floor. “Why do you need it?”

                “R-Really, it isn’t necessary! Not if it’s going to cause so much trouble!”

                “Says the brat who short circuited at the prospect of not having a damn tree!” Levi called as he vanished down a hallway; a few minutes passed as Eren stood, shifting uncomfortably, in the foyer with two of the raven’s friends before the other returned with a hatchet slug carelessly over one shoulder. “I’ll bring it back within the next few days; have a good night.”

                “Merry Christmas! Sorry!” Eren rushed out after the raven and both disappeared into the cold winter night soon after.

                Petra sighed and shook her head as she closed the door behind them. “Hopefully a tree is _all_ he plans to use that axe on.”

                “Either way, Petra, we’ll hear about that boy being found dead soon enough.” Oluo replied grimly. “All the same, he’s not usually one to play with his food. Unfortunately for the kid, he must be something special.”

 

                They’d spent about another hour cutting down a random unsuspecting pine tree from behind a nearby outlet mall, dragging it back to Levi’s apartment and decorating it together. Once it was finished, the brunet opened his bag and retrieved the carefully wrapped gift from its contents before placing it under the tree and stepping back to admire their work.

                “Well, if I may say so myself we did a pretty good job.”

                “It’s a tree.” Levi helpfully remarked in response, eyeing the random lights and garlands they’d wrapped around the lopsided ever green. “What did you just put under it?”

                “Your gift,” Eren replied with a purr, wrapping his arms around him and shyly pecking him on the lips. “Merry Christmas Levi. And happy birthday.”

                “Kiss me properly, brat.” The raven’s hand slid into soft brown locks to pull the younger’s head back down, their lips slotting together tightly and his tongue swiping quickly across them to request the entrance it was hesitantly allowed. Eren let out a small breathy moan as the older’s tongue caressed his own before coiling around it. By the time Levi pulled away, smirking, Eren’s face was red and his lips were slightly swollen and he was staring at him with bewildered eyes. “Head on to bed; brats need their sleep.”

                “Good night, Levi.”

                “Good night, Eren.” He took care to make his voice softer when he said it; the brunet smiled happily and kissed him on the cheek again before heading into Levi’s room with his bag, changing into night clothes and sliding in between the sheets. This was Levi’s bed. His boyfriend’s-first boyfriend who was utterly perfect and he completely adored-bed. The sheets, the comforter, the pillows, all of them smelled like him; he buried his face in the pillow and inhaled, the small part of his brain which he chose to ignore aware that his behavior could easily be perceived as creepy, and smiled. That familiar scent-dark and slightly musky and already well known to him-made him feel warm and loved and, most importantly, _safe_. Curled up in those sheets surrounded by the raven’s scent Eren fell asleep in a matter of seconds.

                Levi, meanwhile, lay on the couch in the TV room for about another hour, waiting patiently under the dim multicolored lights wreathing the tree until he was completely sure that Eren was asleep. Then he got to his feet and slunk quietly into his room, eyes flaring red as he came to stand over the brunet’s defenseless form as he lay on his back, chest rising and falling evenly and pale pink lips slightly parted. He reached out with one hand, gently so as not to wake him, caressing his cheek with a feather light touch, tracing over the lightly fluttering eyelids and along to slant of his jaw to the delicate skin of his throat. Slowly, using only his thumb, he began massaging gentle circles into the fragile flesh before pressing down. Lightly at first but with increasing pressure until the calm breathing hitched and the teen choked slightly but did not wake up. So close. So close and it would all be over without the brat even knowing what had happened. All he had to do was bear down with a margin more of his weight to crush the human’s throat, break his neck, or dig his fingers into the yielding meat and rip it free so that he couldn’t scream while he tore him apart. But something wouldn’t allow him to do it. Not that moment. Not like that. No matter how hard he willed himself to proceed, to tighten his fingers into a fist, to snuff out the fire that burned so brightly within the boy now lying at his mercy, his body would not obey. His arm wouldn’t move, his fingers wouldn’t clench; gritting his teeth in frustration, the raven stepped back and allowed his eyes to cool back to their usual grey coloring. _Not tonight brat._ Levi remained standing there, taking in the sight of the bronzed skin glowing in the moonlight that filtered in through the curtained window for a moment longer before he turned to walk out. _Not tonight._


	8. Night Swim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A filler chapter, honestly. Minor fluff-i guess that's what you'd call this?-and setting up the situation for the next chapter.

“-signs of mental illness recognizable by sudden mood swings, paranoid behavior or hallucinations.”

                It had been a little over a week since the brat had stayed over at his apartment for Christmas, break was over and here he was once again sitting in a cavernous lecture hall surrounded by a couple hundred shitty co-eds listening to his professor ramble on about mental illnesses and how they tied in to the study of psychology versus psychiatry. Why he’d chosen something like this as his major he’d never know; his only salvation was that he only had a single semester left before he could kiss school goodbye for good and move on with his life. Letting out a small sigh of annoyance Levi sank deeper into his too big hoodie, playing with the interlocking white and black rings of the necklace that Eren had given him as he dicked around on his lap top instead of taking notes. He raised an eyebrow slightly when a Skype call from someone calling themselves Humanity’s Last Hope-less came in. _Wonder who that could be._ Figuring that it was better than dying of boredom no matter who it was, Levi plugged in his headphones and proceeded to answer the call. “If you don’t have a damn good reason to bother me, fuck off!” He growled before the face of the caller could fully come into focus.

                “Hi, Levi!” Messy brown hair. Big green eyes. Of course it was him.

                “Brat?” the raven’s eyes darted down to the small clock displayed on his computer screen-it displayed that time as 11:42 am-and back again. “Aren’t you in call right now?” he demanded.

                “It’s just study hall; AKA nap time but I’m not tired.” The teen replied. “Mr. Hannes doesn’t care what we do as long as we don’t go Battle Royal. Shouldn’t _you_ be in a lecture hall right now, Mr. big shot college senior?”

                “First off, shit head, let’s remember who called who; how’d you even get my skype information anyway? Second of all, I _am_ in a lecture right now you cocky brat! Welcome to college; we pay thousands of dollars in tuition to not give a fuck in a big ass classroom instead of just not giving a fuck at home.”

                “Well, you’re almost done right? Imagine who I feel, I’m a _freshman!”_

“In highschool. Those are the glory days, Yeager. Everything if off the fucking cliff from there so enjoy it while you can; congratulations, you’re life has peaked.” Levi grumbled. “What the hell kind of user name is ‘Humanity’s Last Hope-less’ anyway?”

                “You tell me, ‘Lance Corporal Short Ass’.”

                “I didn’t make this account brat. A friend of mine did and she won’t tell me how to change it.” Damn himself to the 9th circle of hell for trusting Hanji to set up something like this for him anyway. “What do you want?”

                “I want to make plans for tonight.”

                “I might be busy; what time.”

                “Midnight; meet me by the river and _don’t_ bring swim trunks.”

                “Brat-!” But the other had hung up before he could demand any kind of answers. God help them both if Eren was planning what he thought he was.

 

                “You _will_ behave yourself tonight, won’t you?”

                The brunette teen let out an over exaggerated sigh, making sure to angle the screen of his laptop so that his sister could see that he was already wearing his pajamas.

                “Yes, Mika, I’ll be a good boy. I’ll lock the doors, lock the windows, hide in the closet etc. etc.” Not that suck measures would keep a Ghoul out if it really wanted to get in. “Do I need to bring this upstairs to prove to you that I’m not hiding Levi under my bed?”

                “No, I trust you.” His sister smiled at him before glancing quickly over her shoulder at the busy office behind her. “I’ve got to go. It’s almost midnight Eren, go to bed.”

                “Yes Ma’am.” Closing out the call and shutting his computer, Eren grinned to himself; he’d ‘get to bed’ alright. Scrambling to his feet and running up to his room to change back into his day clothes, he left the apartment-locking the door behind him-and hurried down the street. He’d hoped for a clear night and a full moon, or at least something semi-romantic, but what he got instead was a howling gale of wind and icy rain but despite all of this Eren fully intended to press forward with his plan. He only hoped that the raven would still show up.

                               

 _Fucking shitty weather. And on top of that it’s fucking freezing! Not to mention that I have a fucking term paper due tomorrow, shitty college!_ Huffing in annoyance and pulling his coat tighter around himself, Levi pushed his way through the last few feet of snarled undergrowth to find Eren-soaked through and shivering but still grinning widely-standing on the muddy slopping river bank. “The hell, brat? The river? At midnight?In the dead of winter? In a _thunderstorm?”_

“The weather was supposed to be ‘clear with a full moon’,” the teen replied cheekily, “but you make do with what you can get. Did you bring swim trunks?”

“Hell no, that water is disgusting!”

“Good.” Without further ado and much to the raven’s shock and minor horror the teen began to peel the soaked clothing from his body and drop the articles carelessly to the muddy bank at his feet. Levi couldn’t stop himself from staring, the lean body and tan skin glistening with rain water in what little moonlight stubbornly managed to filter through the clouds, the long arms and graceful legs and the rest which, up until that point, had been left to the power of his imagination. Eren, being the little shit he was, wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. “See something you like?”

“I-I…what…brat-!” All that he could competently hope to do was stutter incoherently; the next thing he knew the brunette had turned his back on him, supplying the already flushed raven with an unhindered up close view of his perfect ass, and begun to wade into the river.

“I’m not the only one who’s getting naked, I hope; are you coming are not?”

“Coming in? Are you insane? Do you have any idea how _filthy_ that water is? Not to mention that, unlike you, I’m over the age of 18 so getting picked up for public indecency will probably land me on the sexual predator registry-if your sister doesn’t kill me first-not to mention that the temperature of that water is below negative so-fucking-cold-my-balls-have-fallen-off degrees _and_ the possibility that lightning will fry your ass! Now get your naked ass back here before you pass out from hypothermia and drown!” Not that he actually cared about the kid. No, of course not!

“You want me to come in?” the brat’s lips formed into a shit eating grin as he waded deeper until he was up to his neck in the middle of the river. “How about no.”

By this point Levi was seriously considering walking away, but that move would far from endear him to his play thing and he wasn’t quite ready to end their little game. And having him freeze to death and float down river wasn’t really much of an option either. Which left him with only one choice. “Shitty brat! Last chance; come in before I _make_ you come in!”

“Come get me!” Removing his coat and hanging it carefully on a nearby branch, the raven took a moment to glare balefully at the river before taking a step into the water. The river was freezing cold, filthy and smelled like fish and rotting plant matter; the mere thought of what could possibly be in it made him want to retch but he forced the feeling away and soldiered on; up to his waist, up to his neck, passed the point where his feet could no longer touch the bottom. “Aww! You still have most of your clothes on!” The teen made a point of pouting as he darted away like a fish.

“ _Yeager!”_ It came out almost as a snarl and led him to inhaling a mouthful of the awful water which, if anything, tasted worse than it smelled. “I swear to God! Stop screwing the fuck around or I will strangle you with my bare hands after I’ve dragged you back to shore!” By now Levi was sure that he closely resembled a half drowned cat and, if the brunette’s continued refusal to comply was anything to go by, was the furthest thing in the world from threatening. He finally managed to corral the other after close to an hour of swimming through the frigid swill and, when the soaked and dripping 14 year olf was at last hauled-shivering and starting to turn blue-onto the shore he couldn’t help to take a small measure of pity on him. “You’re going to get sick because of the shit you pulled tonight, brat.”

“I’ve gotten away with worse,” this confident statement was followed almost immediately by a harsh sneeze. “I’ll be fine, you’ll see.”

“I’ll take you home. You need to warm up and sleep.” He said, pulling the shivering teen up onto his back-a fairly awkward position given their considerable height difference-and started back up the bank towards the street. Eren didn’t complain but squirmed slightly as he readjusted his position and buried is face in the back of the raven’s neck. “Jesus, your lips are freezing!” He set the brunet back on his feet the moment that they reached his apartment to allow Eren to open the door; thankfully for both of them Mikasa had not yet returned home.

“I’m sorry Levi. I wanted this to be fun; I didn’t mean to cause you so much trouble.”

The raven sighed and shook his head as the pair stepped inside, closing the door behind them. “The next time you want to do something ‘fun’ make sure there’s no plausible way that it could become life threatening.” He informed him. “Where do you keep your towels?”

“Upstairs. In the hall closet.”

Ascending the stairs quickly Levi located the correct door and pulled down a folded towel before finding his way into Eren’s room-picking his way over strewn clothing papers and school supplies-and opening drawers until he found a clean shirt and sweat pants. This done, he returned down the stairs to find Eren still standing in the doorway.

“Here, dry off and then change into these before you catch your death.” He handed the items over. “I’ll throw your wet clothes in the dryer and make you some tea, then I’ve got to head home. I have a class in four hours and I still need to turn in the paper that’s due.”

“Thank you,” Eren disappeared into the nearby bathroom as the raven ventured into the kitchen, doing his best to recall how it was one went about making tea as he delved into the pantry in pursuit of leaves, ultimately uncovering a box full of Lipton tea bags. By the time he’d finished brewing it Eren-now in dry clothing-had emerged from the bathroom and sat at the table. Pouring the contents of the pan into a mug and hoping it had come out right, Levi set it in front of him before sitting opposite the brunet at the kitchen table. “Thank you,” he said again, mumbling it into the rim of the mug as he took a drink. “You’re not having any?”

“If I had the time I would,” he lied, getting up again with a tired sigh. “But I need to head home, _before_ I’m caught here by your sister. Good night, brat.” Levi pressed a swift kiss-little more than a fleeting touch-to his lips. “You may want to take a shower before she gets back as well. You smell like that river.”

Turning pink, Eren hurried to finish his drink and clean up the dishes so that he could put them away. “Good idea; being grounded doesn’t sound all that appealing to me. Good luck with your paper, Levi!”

“Thanks, brat.” He replied, exiting the apartment and shutting the door firmly behind him. _To finish the damn thing before I have to turn it in, I’ll probably need it._


	9. Epiphany

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While caring for a sick Eren Levi finally confronts his feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long absence. Hopefully this chapter will make up for it at least a little bit

 

                After a particularly busy night running around the various districts in pursuit of the newest bunch of problematic Ghouls Mikasa had finally gotten home at 4:00 am the next morning and almost immediately fallen asleep; awoken at 6:30 by her alarm she proceeded downstairs and quickly made a breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast for the two of them. Oddly no movement came from upstairs; no appearance was made by her brother at the table when he smelled food. Only the second time that this had ever happened and this time she was 100% sure that he didn’t have a date weighing on his mind. Concerned, she made her way up the stairs and into his room.

                “Eren, you need to wake up. It’s Friday; you have school.” He responded with a scratchy sounding groan and hid himself further beneath his covers. “Eren!” Gently as she could, Mikasa pulled back the quilt he’d cocooned himself in to find her younger brother peering blearily up at her with more than sleep dulling his eyes. “Are you alright?”

                He sniffed dryly in response and shook his head. “I don’t feel so good.”

                “You’re hot enough to fry an egg, good lord!” Going to retrieve a thermometer from the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, she returned to his bedroom and helped her sibling prop himself up against the pillows. “Here, put this in your mouth. I’ll go and bring breakfast up to you with some Tylenol.” Nodding again her brother took the device and slid it under his tongue without complaint as his sister left the room. Quickly putting the plate of eggs and toast, the bottle of medicine and a glass of water onto a tray Mikasa returned up the stairs and set it across his lap before removing the thermometer. “103.5 degrees? You have a fever, Eren! You’re not going to school today.” And she wouldn’t be getting to work for at least a number more hours.

                “Sick? A fever? Mikasa, I’m sorry! What about your work?”

                “Don’t worry about any of that. Even with everything that is going on out there you are and always will be my foremost concern! I’ll call in and let my bosses know that I’m going to be a few hours late; I’ll call Levi as well and ask if he can come over once he’s out of class.” Great. Not only would he be conveniencing his sister, he’d be dragged his boyfriend into it as well all because he’d pulled that stupid stunt two nights before; just perfect. Needless to say he was fairly certain the raven would not be impressed. “Take a dose of that once you’ve eaten, then drink the water and try to get some rest. I’ll be right downstairs if you need anything else, alright?”

                Her brother nodded with a small grumble of discomfort at his sore throat, picking up his fork and slowly beginning to eat. Once outside of his room Mikasa sighed and pulled her cellphone from her pocket to dial the number which had long since become familiar; the office. A few rings later, the other end of the line was picked up.

                “Hello?”

                “Connie, can you put me through to our first available superior please?”

                “Mikasa? Yeah, sure. Just give me a second.” A clatter and distant conversation as her coworker switched lines to transfer the call.

A few seconds later “Shadis speaking.”

“Good morning Sir, this is Investigator First Class Mikasa Ackerman. I was just calling in to request a push back of my shift today.” She said calmly. “I hate having to do this, especially with everything going on, but my brother is sick with a considerably high fever and there won’t be anyone else available to take care of him until around 2:45 this afternoon.”

“It’s understandable that you need to come in a bit later than usual today, Ackerman. Family comes first, but we need you as soon as possible so if you’re able to come in before than do so.”

“Of course, Sir. I understand. Thank you.” Hanging up and replacing her phone in her pocket, Mikasa busied herself with cleaning the house and getting ready for her eventual return to work, checking in on her brother every 20 minutes or so all the while to find him sleeping soundly. Finally, 2:00 rolled around. 45 more minutes before she could call him, if his courses didn’t run late, she’d hopefully arrive at the office by three.

 

It was almost exactly on the second that his last class of the day got out that his cellphone rang. Still fairly ticked off at everyone around him and life in general but in a bit of a better mood than usual on account of it being Friday, the raven fished the phone out of his pocket and answered it as he swung his bag over one shoulder and set off down the hall.

“Hello?”

“Levi!” He recognized the brat’s sister’s voice immediately and of course his mind instantly went to the scenario that she had discovered her brother’s river escapade and was about to give him a vicious and very thorough tongue lashing but before he could so much as open his mouth to explain himself she derailed this line of thought with the statement “Erens really sick-a high fever, sore throat, it’s probably the flu-but I can’t stay and take care of him any longer than I already have and there’s no one else that I can call-.”

Eren? Ill? He’d known that this would happen! An unfamiliar and, in his mind, utterly irrational nervousness beginning to flutter in his stomach at the thought of the brunet in bad health he cut her off before she could even finish. “I’ll be over as soon as I can!” He was a plaything. Cute, sure, but a toy. A means to an end and nothing more so why was he suddenly so concerned? Even as those thoughts ran through his head his pace sped to almost a sprint; his mind unable to convince his feet that he was only _pretending_ to give a damn about the Human brat. Ever since that Christmas eve, no matter how much he didn’t want to admit it, he’d been struggling with his original intentions for the teen. He didn’t examine this fact-the budding feelings, whatever they might really be-in any depth, wouldn’t allow himself to, but the more that he ignored them the more they tried to force themselves to the forefront of his mind. To say the least, the situation had become far more complicated than he would have ever cared for it to.

And just when he thought his day couldn’t possibly get any worse he ran face first into the chest of the much taller blonde who had been waiting for him outside.

“ _Mike!!!_ ” Half a snarl as he all but leapt backwards. “No! For the millionth fucking time no! I’m not going back! Tell Erwin that he can send as many of you to my damn door as he fucking pleases but the answer is and _always_ will be no!”

“Relax, I’m not trying to convince you to do anything.” The taller man assured him, apparently unconcerned by the shorter’s tantrum. “I’m only here to make sure that you’re ok.”

“I’m fine, goodbye.”

“Not so soon, it’s been a while. You should come out with Moblit and I tonight; we’re going to get some drinks.”

“I’m busy; have an errand to run and then a fairly urgent matter to attend to that will keep me occupied for most of it not all night.” He dead panned, skirting around him and making for the street.

“I’ll walk with you.”

“You know what, fine! I’m not going to waste any more of my time and energy arguing with you, just stay the hell out of my way!” Resigning himself to the other’s continued presence into the foreseeable future, Levi flounced down the road towards the destination that he had in mind.

The automated doors of the corner grocer slid open for him with a soft hiss of compressed air, allowing the pair into the store’s heated interior. The other didn’t say anything but he knew that Mike was staring at him with a mix of surprise and confusion as he grabbed a basket and set out down the nearest aisle.

“Levi, why are you shopping here?” he finally asked when the curiosity became too much to bare. “You live alone; no room mates. No need to keep up a façade by eating food. So why…is that a recipe for chicken noodle soup?”

“It’s supposed to help when you have the flu. Now shut up and get a bag of cough drops from the pharmacy aisle since you insist of sticking around; something sweet, like melon or cherry, so that the brat doesn’t bitch at me all night.” Leaving him where he stood rooted to the spot by shock the raven quickly made his way up and down the various aisles in search of the ingredients listed on the recipe he’d pulled up on his smart phone. It was while he was picking out which type of chicken he should buy for the soup that Mike returned with what he’d requested.

“Now will you tell me who those are for?”

“No, it’s none of your concern.” The raven replied sharply, checking over the ingredients once more to ensure that he did indeed have everything that the recipe required Levi nodded to himself before proceeding to the counter. “If you’re not here on Eyebrow’s behalf to bother me and all that you wanted was to ask me to go out drinking with you and Moblit-an offer I’ve already refused-why are you still here Sniffer?” he growled, not bothering to check the total and waving away the offered receipt as he handed over a credit card before collecting his bags.

“Well, one reason is to forewarn you that Hanji would appreciate it if you could watch Sawny and Bean for a few days starting this Monday.”

“Tch. I’m busy.”

“The other was because I was talking to Petra the other day she told me that you came barging into her home on Christmas eve demanding an axe and that you were accompanied by a human.”

“And you want to know what I did with him?” he finished as they walked through the door of the lobby of Eren’s apartment building and started up the stairs. “Nothing. Yet.”

As they reached the 3rd floor and stepped out onto the landing Mike opened his mouth to respond but before he could the door to Eren’s apartment flew open and Mikasa-in full uniform and toting her metal briefcase-all but tumbled out in a rush.

“Levi! Thank God you’re here, I need to go!” She said as she hurried over to them. Seeming to notice Mike for the first time the ravenette paused in her haste to look him over. “Oh, help. You are?”

“I’m-.” Between her sudden appearance and the attire which left the fact that she was in the CCG undeniably clear Mike was left too stunned by shock to speak.

“Leaving!” Levi finished for him, emphasizing his point with a firm shove towards the stairway. “Goodbye, Mike.” Once sure that the other had reluctantly started back down the stairs Levi turned to her with a sigh. “Sorry, I couldn’t get rid of him before now. Probably making sure that I hadn’t just concocted some excuse not to go out drinking with him.”

“Right, well, Eren is upstairs in his room asleep but once he wakes up I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you. Again, I’m really sorry about this and if there was anyone else I could call-.”

“We may have only been dating for a little over two weeks but the brat has grown on me. I’m happy to take care of him, and I know that you’re busy.”

“You don’t have classes on Saturdays do you? Because I probably won’t be getting back until early morning so it’s best that you stay the night here if that’s alright with you.”

“Not a problem at all.”

“There should be food in the kitchen; use whatever you need to and feel free to make yourself comfortable.” How distracted she was was clearly evident in the constant darting of her eyes as she spoke. “All of the medical supplies are in the medicine cabinet in the upstairs bathroom. If you need anything call me and I’ll do my best to try and help but-.”

“I get it. Duty calls.” He watched as the slightly taller ravenette turned and hurried down the stairs. “Be safe, for the brat’s sake. You’re all the family he has left.” Whether or not she heard him in her haste to leave wasn’t clear; shrugging his shoulders, Levi opened the door of the apartment and went inside. _I may as well start making this stupid shit. Supposedly it takes about 2 hours._

Only the second time he’d ever been in the brat’s kitchen and all he knew how to find was the blender. Ten whole minutes of opening drawers and cabinets and tinkering around inside later he finally managed to stumble upon a soup pot. Filling it with water he set it on the stove to boil and in the meantime resumed searching through the cupboards for a cutting board. Following the instructions as they were written he chopped the carrots and celery into small pieces before tossing them into the pot with the chicken and an assortment of spices and putting the lid on to let it simmer. Taking note of the time as displayed by the clock mounted on a nearby wall, Levi proceeded up the stairs to check on Eren.

The door to the bedroom was firmly closed; opening it quietly so as not to disturb him if he was sleeping, he stepped inside. His nose curled and is expression slipped momentarily into one of marked displeasure as the scent of sweat and sickness assaulted his keen sense of smell, eyes panning over the scene before him. A plastic bucket had been set beside the bed in case Eren found himself without the strength to make it to the bathroom before purging the contents of his stomach and the curtains had been drawn over the window to block out as much light as possible. Eren himself was curled up in a fetal position with the bed clothes twisted around him and a pillow over his face.

 _He looks miserable._ He concluded, gently tracing the tips of his fingers along the curve of the other’s jaw in a feather light touch. The brunet male mumbled softly and he shifted in his uncomfortable sleep; removing the pillow from where it lay Levi touched the back of his hand to his forehead only to jerk away with a quiet hiss. _I knew the brat was hot headed but this is ridiculous; if his fever doesn’t come down soon his brain will fry!_

It had been a long time since he himself had been sick but Levi could still remember a few of the best things to do for a fever; leaving the bedroom quickly and making his way down the hall he located the closet where they kept the towels and pulled down a washcloth before proceeding downstairs. Dragging as much ice out of the freezer as he could and putting it into a large glass bowl he filled it with water before carefully carrying it back up the stairs and setting it on the desk. Turning his attention back to Eren, he gently pulled the covers away from his chest and folded them over his lap. It was delicately, so as not to wake him in case he wasn’t quite as unconscious as he appeared, that Levi peeled the sweat soaked shirt off of his body and dropped it to the floor at his feet with a small sound of disgust.

Removing the wash cloth from the bowl of water and wringing it out he perched himself on the edge of the bed and began to carefully wash the sweat away with long slow strokes, cooling the fevered skin in the process. He bathed his chest, neck and then his face, checking the time on his cellphone periodically to monitor the progress of the soup on the stove downstairs before wetting the cloth again and laying it over his forehead.

He watched him for a while after that. Watched his breathing even out slightly now that he wasn’t burning quite so hot. Watched his eyelids flicker and expression contort with fever dreams. He watched him until the time came when the soup was ready, and only then did he leave the room.

He ignored the way his stomach twisted at the smell emanating from the pot and pulled down a bowl, filling it with the soup before returning up the stairs.

Eren hadn’t moved much other than to curl up on his side. Balancing the steaming bowl in one hand the raven extended the other to gently shake his shoulder.

“Oi, brat. Time to wake up; you need something!”

It took almost a minute’s worth of shaking and cajoling to finally rouse the brunet who grumbled quietly when he at last woke up.

“Mikasa, I’m tired. I don’t want to wake up just yet; I can go in late to school today.”

“First off, it’s almost 5 so school is already out: you didn’t go because you’re sick as shit. Second, your sister left for work a few hours ago; don’t tell me you don’t recognize me.”

“L-Levi!” it was almost comical how shocked Eren both looked and sounded as his hazed eyes finally focused on him; the raven couldn’t help but smirk. “Oh God, I’m sorry about this! I didn’t mean for you to end up taking care of me!”

“Forget it; I’d end up doing this at some point anyway I’m sure. Getting sick is normal, and you-I’d assume-are planning on sticking around for a while?”

“I’m here till you dump me, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Then you’ll be here for quite a while,” he replied. A moment passed before the raven raised a pencil thin eyebrow. “’Gotten away with worse than this without getting sick’ have you?” the brunet flared red but didn’t respond. “Here,” Levi passed him the bowl, “you need to eat something; keep your strength up so that you can get better.” He watched as ERen settled the bowl in his lap and started to eat. “Like I told your sister I don’t exactly cook that much so…”

“It’s good.”

“Really? Because with how sick you are have a hard time believing you can taste anything.”

“You should give yourself more credit, Levi.” Eren sniffled and sneezed and. If the raven hadn’t caught the bowl when he did, would have sent his soup spilling across his sheets. “I could have sworn I had a shirt on earlier.”

“You did, but it was sweaty and disgusting so I took it off.” The look on the brunet’s face was something close to mortified. “What?!”

“N-Nothing, it’s just…you didn’t waste a moment, did you?”

“Says the brat who wanted to go skinny dipping in a dirty ass river.” Levi drawled back. “Now, eat that soup shit head. If you want any more I’ll get it for you.”

“No, this is enough. I really just want to sleep.”

“Take a bit more Tylenol first; it’ll help your fever go down quicker. I think your sister said something about it being in the medicine cabinet.”

Eren nodded. “In the hall bathroom.”

Levi located the mirrored cabinet quickly after making his way to indicated bathroom, taking down the small plastic bottle from the second shelf and checking it was still good. By the time that he returned the brunet had successfully emptied his bowl and was beginning to nod off.

“Don’t take a nap quite yet; take this.” Pouring a dose of Tylenol into the cap he held it to the sleepy teen’s lips until he complied and drank it. “I have cough drops as well in case you want those at any point. I’ll be working on some school shit at your desk so if you need me I’ll be five feet away. Keep that in mind.”

Eren’s reply was an unintelligible mumble as he once again curled up beneath the covers to sleep. Levi took the dirty dishes down stairs and washed them out in the sink before putting the left over soup in the fridge. Setting up his laptop on Eren’s desk after brewing a pot of coffee Levi returned to working on yet another term paper. Hours passed; the teen occasionally shifting and mumbling but never saying anything coherent. Then, at almost 2 am “Levi.”

“Need something, brat?” a shift and quiet sigh but no response. “Oi!” The raven turned towards him only to find the brunet was fast asleep.

“Love you, Levi.”

He was dreaming. Closing the lid of his laptop and getting back to his feet the raven slowly made his way over to the bed, looking down at the brunet’s semi-pained but still angelic sleeping face. Reaching out with one hand he carefully carded his fingers through sweat drenched chocolate hair, watching the ghost of a smile spread across his face as he settled deeper into his pillow. “I love you too, Eren.” And for the first time that he allowed himself to admit it, he meant every word.


End file.
